Bradyn on the Aspire Programme coming Full Circle
When I was in intermediate school I was signed up by my teacher for the Aspire Program. I didn’t exactly understand what it entailed at the time, but curiosity drove me to give it a go, and I am so happy that I did! This program gave me insight to what University would be like, and inspired me to give University a shot.
Being quite young at the time, University seemed quite daunting and scary, but Aspire showed me just how fun and exciting it actually is. Some of the best moments that I remember from my Aspire journey all those years ago include solving a “murder mystery” with DNA evidence, tricking our taste-buds with different colored jellies, freezing lollies with liquid nitrogen (Yum!), and playing with dry-ice. I found the Aspire program really fun, even if sometimes I would be anxious to go because I was quite shy, I always had a great time in the end, and loved it a lot.
This year, as I was scrolling through Instagram I saw a post about Aspire, a program I remembered fondly, and realized that I could sign-up, and provide inspiration for a new generation of kids, like the program had done for me many years ago. I signed up and after quick survey, and zoom interview, I was now an Aspire buddy, and it had come full-circle. This was such a cool moment to me, now I could inspire others how I had been inspired then. I am very grateful to be a part of this program, it feels like I’m helping to make a difference with my peers on the next generation, which is always awesome. I think it’s so cool that I came full circle from one of the kids of the program to one of the leaders of the program.
This semester was a great opportunity not just for the intermediate-school buddy I was paired up with, but both of us to see and explore the University. My favorite memory from this semester was exploring the anatomy museum with my buddy and watching him curiously look though all the cool items on display, it reminded me of when I was just a curious kid exploring Uni through Aspire all those years ago, and just how awesome that was.