An interview with Javeon Robinson, Breakthrough Alum.

 

Hey, Javeon, how are you? 

I'm doing pretty good, Jillian. It's nice to see you. 

 

Yeah, same here. So as I told you, what we're doing is we are talking to some of our alumni, finding out where they are, what they're doing, talking about their experiences, a little bit of their time at Breakthrough and how they've utilized Beyond Breakthrough. And we're going to show this to our current eighth graders. So thank you for being here and taking the time. 

So can you start by telling us who you are, what breakthrough school you went to, what high school you went to, and where you are now, and what you're doing? 

All right. My name is Javeon Robinson. I am currently a first year at Bucknell University. 

I went to Eprep Cliffs, so go, Cliffs people. I graduated in 2019 from Cliffs. I went to Bard High School Early College. Bucknell University is actually, funny enough, located in rural Pennsylvania. However, even if it is small, there's still a lot of major cities that you can go to in PA or even outside of PA. About an hour and a half away, you can go to Harrisburg, which is their capital, and go to Hershey Park. If you want to go to Philly, it's about two hours. And if you really, really want to take the three-hour drive, you can go to New York City and really enjoy the New York lifestyle and see how that goes for you. It sounds like it's a pretty cool location.

 

What are you studying at Bucknell University and what classes are you taking this semester? 

I'm currently an accounting and Spanish double major with a minor in economics and business analytics. Classes I'm currently taking, I'm taking economics 101, Spanish 101, accounting and financial management 104, and Latinx theater, which is a literary studies class. 

 

That sounds like a really diverse course schedule. That sounds super interesting. That's pretty cool. So when you think about your time at Breakthrough and at ePrep, can you share one or two of your favorite memories from your Breakthrough years? 

One of my favorite memories from my Breakthrough year, because I kind of transferred into Breakthrough when I was in eighth grade, was going to Washington, D.C., during our eighth-grade field trip. 

Honestly, it was a fun trip and I really enjoyed it. One of my favorite moments, at least, was us, like, going into the Natural History Museum and then just, like, running up the stairs and getting to see, like, the original costumes used in Captain America, the original Batmobile and the costumes used in Iron Man. Like, we're talking, like, authentic, genuine things. And it was really cool. who will see them up close and personal. That does sound amazing. Yeah, it really does. And then I got to see the original United States flag, which, oh, wow, definitely a perk of mine. It even got me into history, which, still not a big history nerd. Breakthrough, like, really did help me with that one, at least going to E-Prep. 

And in high school, at least, like, that love of history kind of carried on to the point where I now still hold the record for the highest in history and for both the ninth and 10th graders. 

 

That's pretty cool. I know the major that you're in right now uses quite a bit of math and you told me some interesting information about your math journey at Breakthrough. Do you remember what you told me about that?

Yeah. So I struggled in math heavily and I kind of needed tutoring, and Mrs. Smith, the teacher, she was like, you need to do tutoring. So going to tutoring and honestly just having the time to really think out and learn how I want to do things, that really helped me then and helped me even now, because accounting is a lot of mathematics, whether it's algebra 2, economics, I need to utilize math. more so algebra, too, and going even into calculus. And in high school, that really helped me through because it showed me that I was able to really go to my teachers and ask them for help and utilize the resources that my school has. Actually, funny enough, it got me to the point where at the end of my senior year, I got an award for having the highest in mathematics in my grade. 

 

That's amazing. So not a lot of students want to go to tutoring or want to hear that they need tutoring. But that's really cool of you that you did it and you got better. And now you're at an amazing college and you're in a major that does a lot with math and you're doing really well at it. So congrats to you! If you could go back and tell your eighth grade self one thing, what would you tell yourself? 

Really, I would try to tell myself to take it one step at a time. Because high school really isn't like the movies, really. It's not, oh, yeah, you're stuck in one group or the other. It's really just, hey, you're in a new environment. You have to figure out, like, how do you want to make these high school years count? High school really is what you make it. It's whether it's going to study, whether it's hanging out with friends. You can do so much in high school. just likes to be alone, he can do that. No one will pressure you for being alone. Sometimes it's good. Or whether you want to be around a big group of people. High school really has something for everyone. And that's something I wish I kind of learned back in eighth grade because I was really, really nervous. And I understand high school acceptances or rejections can be a little daunting. It can be a little stressful too. But there's no... No matter what high school you go to, you'll still have about the same experience. You just got to make it what you want it to be, you know? 

 

That's a very insightful answer. Well, when you think about Beyond Breakthrough, can you tell me why you think Beyond Breakthrough is special and how you've utilize the Beyond Breakthrough program or a member of the team and how they've supported you on your educational journey? 

Beyond Breakthrough, I didn't exactly know existed until about two years ago when I went to a meeting for all the alumni. I got to see a lot of my old CLIFS classmates, so that was really cool. But utilizing Beyond Breakthrough, they kind of sent me like a few emails here and there. And honestly, I was really hesitant about doing Breakthrough because it And I didn't really know what it was. They gave me kind of an explanation, but I'm like, I don't know if this will ever help me. But the moment I reached out, they kind of like welcomed me in with open arms. They said, we're here for you. We're here to help you. And honestly, Breakthrough really did help me out. Whether it was getting through the tough holes of senior year, to getting my medical reports, or even Breakthrough helped me pay for college for my very first semester. 

Utilizing Breakthrough helped me get where I am. My mom always tells the story, Breakthrough saved my butt because by the time I got my bill, we couldn't exactly afford $1,500. But when I called my mentor (Jillian Keller, Senior Director of College & Career), I was like, I need help. I don't know if I'll be able to go to college. And they said, we'll be there to help you. We'll find a way. And we ended up finding a way. We ended up paying for it. And that allowed me to come here. And now I'm pretty much set. It was really all thanks to Breakthrough. I won't be honest. 

 

That's really great. I think it's really important to note one thing you said, which is Beyond Breakthrough sent you emails and they sent you texts. But you wouldn't have gotten help unless you decided to respond and ask for help and tell Beyond Breakthrough what you needed. So I think that's really important. that you took the step that you needed to take to get help for yourselves. And I'm really glad that you did. It's been really fun getting to know you over the past year. Is there anything else that you want to share with some eighth graders before we wrap up? 

All right. Yeah, I got something for you guys. Honestly, I understand like you're in eighth grade. You guys probably go on top of the world. Trust me. You guys will have the best time in high school. But like I always say, like I said, make it what you want, what you really, really want it to be. 

Utilize the resources that Beyond Breakthrough will give you. And honestly, it is quite fun being an alumni of Breakthrough. Little perks there. And it's really good that, it's really good to know you kept on going, especially like my classmates from E-Prep originally. And I know you guys will too. So really, Whether you take what I say or not, that's up to you guys. But if you really, really just want to keep pushing forward, trust me, E-Prep will help you with that. And if you want to, you can go to my college. I'm just saying. I hope you don't mind me saying one more thing. If you guys ever want to find a program that will help you just as much as Beyond Breakthrough, do this program called Thrive Scholars. 

Trust me. They'll help you a lot with a lot of things coming into college. They're like Breakthrough 2.0, but not a school beyond Breakthrough. 

 

Well, thank you so much for your time, Javeon. I really appreciate it. And I hope you have a great rest of the semester. 

Yep. Thank you for asking me for help. Take care.