In September of 2020, I was lost. A new school, entirely remote, and I was failing. I was unprepared for the changes in teacher expectations, the increase in coursework, and I struggled with learning how to adapt to a new community. Everything looked like a dead end.
All around me, I saw classmates facing similar difficulties, and I realized there was no clear structure to push students toward achievement. My path to success in high school was characterized by a lack of guidance; only through committing long, late-night study sessions, and frequent visits to my teacher’s office hours did I adapt to high school. I struggled through every aspect of high school, from making friends to writing essays. If only there was some way to mitigate the pain of adjustment.
By 15, I knew I wanted to start my own initiative, something that would jumpstart a lifelong commitment to empowering my community, but also a chance for me to rewrite the narratives of students who were entering high school and soon to face the same situations I experienced. Many schools lack sufficient counseling programs that teach students crucial skills for high school success such as interacting with teachers, adapting to learning style, and applying for internships. It wasn’t long before I had accumulated 500 hours in community service and established Scholar Readiness, a nonprofit with the mission of teaching students life and study skills to excel in high school, and build a foundation for success after high school through helping students obtain and pursue opportunities. We have six branches, impacting over 600 students from 40 different schools, and taught students from California to Singapore. We have taught multiple programs, from partnering with local nonprofits to working with an all-girls school in Taiwan. 
Scholar Readiness’ course is constructed in two parts: the first teaches students life and study skills necessary for success in high school, while the second teaches students how to pursue their interests throughout high school. In the second half, mentors will guide students in finding internships, creating clubs, and cold-emailing, allowing them to create their own opportunities.
We hope through our student’s demonstrated interest, they can build the foundation for a college application representative of their passions. One notable application of our mission is the creation of our Resume Review Program, where we have had over 40 student’s resumes reviewed by recruiters at the largest private bank in the world. Scholar Readiness is built on the near-peer system, where students are taught by mentors not that much older than them. The system encourages collaboration and building of personal relationships between the participants. Mentors are more relatable to the students and can more vividly recount their experiences.
Scholar Readiness believes that with the right skill sets, success in life starts as early as elementary and middle school. We hope that through our mission we will work towards equalizing the playing field and ensuring everyone has access to the opportunities they deserve. We are continually working to improve the quality of our work and expand our impact further, supporting people all around the world.
