Final Project 2

NP
by Nick Pellegrino1 view·Updated May 1, 2021
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  1. How do you?
  2. My name is Nick Pellegrino and for my final project
  3. in calm to 50 I will be speaking on the
  4. A. G.
  5. Chief program, the Aggie Achievement Student organization in my time
  6. with each of them.
  7. One of the coolest things in college station is the
  8. Aggie chief program at texas A and M.
  9. University AGI achieve is a four year comprehensive transition program
  10. for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities who have
  11. completed high school.
  12. It provides an inclusive and immersive college education and equips
  13. the students with the tools and skills necessary for employment
  14. after completion according to their website.
  15. Again, achieve alliance coursework, internship opportunities and extracurricular activities with
  16. each student's academic interests and employment goals.
  17. The students live in residence halls at texas A and
  18. M. And will graduate with the certificate and interdisciplinary studies
  19. from the school I do achieve as the first and
  20. only CTP in the state of texas.
  21. Currently, there are 12 students in the program with five
  22. finishing their sophomore year and seven in their freshman year.
  23. As of right now, there will be 10 additional students
  24. short in the program in the fall of 2021.
  25. The idea chief mate student organization at texas A and
  26. M. Is charged with assistant assisting the achieve students in
  27. a multitude of ways, including on a social academic and
  28. overall mentorship level.
  29. There are currently over 140 members in the organization.
  30. The chief mates runs office circle model centered around an
  31. individual student in the achieve program.
  32. Each circle has 10 to 15 members with each serving
  33. in different roles, the parent roles and achieve mates are
  34. planning partners, wellness partners, academic mentors, lunch and dinner buddies
  35. and members at large.
  36. The planning partners meet with their respective student once a
  37. week and help them organize and plan their week with
  38. whatever they have upcoming and especially making sure that they
  39. have proper transportation to everything they need to go to.
  40. They're usually the second in command in the circle.
  41. The wellness partners meet with their student at least once
  42. a week for a workout or wellness activity.
  43. Another part of their duties includes taking the achieve student
  44. grocery shopping once a week on Sundays to make sure
  45. they are eating healthy.
  46. The academic mentors are responsible for making sure that the
  47. chief student um they are paired with is properly studying
  48. and staying on top of their grades.
  49. They also helped their parents didn't find tutors if necessary,
  50. lunch and dinner buddies pretty much do what's in their
  51. name. They got to eat with their achieve student using
  52. on a set date and time every single week, usually
  53. on campus.
  54. That way that achieves it into using their dining dollars
  55. and meal swipes members at large or since you the
  56. free agents of the circle and fill in wherever needed,
  57. especially if somebody in their payroll is unable to make
  58. their uh, weekly responsibilities.
  59. Finally, the circle is overseen by a circulator who is
  60. usually also the planning partner.
  61. As the roles are pretty much similar My time and
  62. achieve mates.
  63. I joined a G achievements in the spring of 2020.
  64. I had originally joined because my future roommate was already
  65. a member and I've always had a passion for serving
  66. those with special needs.
  67. Originally, I was not put into a circular paired role
  68. because I was still trying to decide how I could
  69. impact the organization in the most beneficial way.
  70. I immediately jumped in head first and went on a
  71. trip to Brownsville in that february with some of the
  72. achieved students in the uh staff members to participate in
  73. the charro days fiesta and ride on the float celebrating
  74. the aga chief program.
  75. It was an awesome introduction to the program as I
  76. got to know all the students on an intimate level
  77. right from the start.
  78. Unfortunately, only a month later, the COVID-19 pandemic made the
  79. world come to a halt in Texas A&M.
  80. Went virtual for the rest of the semester Upon coming
  81. back in the fall of 2020 always placed into Matthew
  82. C Circle as you can.
  83. He's the guy in the picture on the right with
  84. me. Um, as a lunch and dinner buddy, I had
  85. chosen matt circle because he was someone that I had
  86. really connected with over the trip to Brownsville and we
  87. had a ton of shared interest, namely heavy metal in
  88. the Houston Astros.
  89. Well, I love my role in the organization where I
  90. was, I decided I really wanted to step it up
  91. in the spring of 2021 and take on more responsibility.
  92. There was an unexpected vacancy in the website chair position
  93. on the achievements executive board And I immediately applied for
  94. the role.
  95. I have always loved writing and had previous experience as
  96. a VP of public relations for the University of Alberta
  97. Interfraternity Council, the I.
  98. F. C.
  99. Where I was charged with redesigning their website.
  100. I won the position in December 2020 and immediately went
  101. to work redesigning and streamlining the website while making it
  102. look pretty, was all fun and stuff.
  103. My main focus, one of the blog section of the
  104. website. Over the semester, I wrote over 25 blogs that
  105. were shared throughout the organization and on our social media
  106. pages. My focus is my focus is ranged from good
  107. things, um, that are members reported that had happened to
  108. them in the last week, a re occurring section called
  109. Good Things friday.
  110. A feature of each circle getting uh, their own uh
  111. circle blog where I would highlight each member in the
  112. circle and also the student that aligned in their circle
  113. in some other interests in the organization.
  114. While I probably annoyed most of the other members constantly
  115. asking them for information to put in the post or
  116. asking them to share the pieces on social media, it
  117. was surely my passion for this semester.
  118. I also upgraded my position in Matthew circle in two
  119. ways, becoming his planning partner and then his circle leader
  120. as well.
  121. Also in order to become boat in order to meet
  122. both more achieve students and more achievements.
  123. I took over roles that have not been covered yet,
  124. such as intramurals chair in a couple of fake positions
  125. like bachelor chair, like the Tv show in fantasy Football
  126. commissioner. Right.
  127. Yeah. Yeah.
  128. Throughout my short time and again chief mates I've learned
  129. a ton and I think everyone involved can too.
  130. I think having a program like A G.
  131. Achieve at a top tier institution like texas A.
  132. And M.
  133. Is so important because it promotes the inclusion of those
  134. with intellectual and developmental disabilities, not only providing opportunities for
  135. those with special needs but especially providing equal opportunities as
  136. they are taking classes alongside neuro typical students.
  137. This provides the opportunity for not only pier ship but
  138. also friendship my own life.
  139. I hang out with several members of the A.
  140. G. Chief program in my free time and I've never
  141. considered them anything but just another one of my friends.
  142. Overall my experience with the idea chief program, overall my
  143. experience with the Aga chief program as a part of
  144. the A.
  145. G. Chief mates has been life changing and I want
  146. to trade it for the world