Intellectual Contribution/Faculty Tribute Award Recipient: Melissa Mayes, R&P'09

Melissa Mayes, Ed.M.'09, came to the Risk and Prevention Program (R&P) wanting to understand how to intervene in students' lives in thoughtful, creative, and comprehensive ways. "I was not disappointed," she says. The courses taught Mayes how to critically examine programs and policies, as well as design and critique research-based interventions.

"Melissa embodies the values and spirit of the Risk and Prevention Program. She is a reflective practitioner, who gives generously to her classmates; often challenging them in a thoughtful and respectful manner while also letting them know how much their contributions have shaped her learning," says Professor Mandy Savitz-Romer, director of R&P. "As a first-generation college student, she is just plain driven about improving educational and social outcomes for young people."

Everything that Mayes learned at HGSE will come in handy as she focuses her future on college access for first-generation, low-income students. Upon learning that she had been honored with the Intellectual Contribution/Faculty Tribute Award for R&P, she answered some questions about her time at the Ed School and beyond.

How did you stay inspired throughout the year?
Although it was difficult to balance the practicum hours with school work, my time working with my 7th graders at the RALLY [Responsive Advocacy for Life and Learning in Youth] Program inspired me. I was able to apply what I was learning, test out practices, and my work in the classroom was being constantly informed by new theories and frameworks. The majority of my assignments were projects that I could actually use in my current or future work, which was very motivating. On top of the applied nature of everything I was learning, I was also lucky to have a great support network of friends, colleagues, and supervisors who inspired and supported me.

Is there any class that you wish you could have taken, but couldn't fit in?
One of the great opportunities that I wish I would have been able to take advantage of is the ability to crossregister at the Kennedy School, Business School, or Divinity School, but there were just too many great classes at HGSE to make that a reality in one year.

What advice do you have for next year's students going through your program?
Don't be afraid to set limits. With 16 hours required of practicum at a school per week, on top of four or five graduate-level classes, R&P can be extremely consuming. My first semester was so stressful, because I was trying to do it all. Second semester, I tried a different approach that involved setting limits and boundaries with my time. As part of a spiritual discipline, I decided to not do any schoolwork on Sundays. While this made the rest of the week much more packed, I was always grateful for that day of rejuvenation, and I found that the work always got done. I think it helps prevent fatigue (and guilt) if you can intentionally carve out some time that you are absolutely not going to work.

My other advice is to take advantage of all the connections you have here -- with professors, other students, guest speakers in class... You will have access to some amazing and inspiring people, and you don't want to miss out on that, since the year goes by so quickly.

If you could change one thing about education today, what would it be and why?
In the words of Dwight Schrute [from TV's The Office], I can change one thing about education today, and I will work to change the historical inequities that are played out in our educational system. Like R&P alum Geoffrey Canada, I think that the only way to accomplish that is to acknowledge that a comprehensive approach is needed, in which we stop pretending that schools as we know them can (or should) do it alone, or that there is such a thing as students' purely "academic" needs. The debate between students' socio-emotional needs and academic needs is a false debate, since each area of a child's context impacts learning. As [critical theorist and education researcher] Jean Anyon says, housing policy is educational policy, as is health care policy, and immigration policy, among other issues. Instead of asking which came first -- the chicken or the egg, standards or support -- we need to realize that they're both the same animal, and get down to the business of helping raise that animal.

If you could transport one person/place/thing in Harvard Square to your next destination, what would it be?
I wish I could take Grendel's Den with me, but with a Harry Potteresque twist -- every time I walked inside, it would be happy hour and be filled with all my friends from HGSE.

2009 Intellectual Contribution/Faculty Tribute Award Recipients

Suzannah Holsenbeck, TEP

Elisha Brookover, L&L'09

Mangala Nanda, IEP'09

Andrew Cabot, SS'09

Nancy Schoolcraft, MBE'09

Joe Baker, EPM'09

Kathy Yang, L&T'09

Angelica Brisk, AIE'09

Melissa Mayes, R&P'09

Jerome "Jay" Green, HDP'09

Ashton Wheeler Clemmmons, SLP'09

Terri-Nicole Singleton, TIE'09

Emily Almas, HE'09