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Before applying to be a Cultivate ACCESS ambassador, Ella Bristol, a forensic science major from Woodbury, Minnesota, considered herself to be pretty introverted.
“I grew up very shy and anxious about meeting new people," Bristol said, "so pushing myself to get out of my comfort zone was something I really wanted to work on when I came to college.”
Cultivate ACCESS’s mission is to engage youth, empower change agents, and elevate dialogue to develop a new generation of agricultural, natural resources, and STEM leaders. By meeting with and mentoring high school students interested in STEM fields through the Cultivate ACCESS virtual mentorship program, Bristol has built a new confidence that’s reinforced her passions while helping future Huskers find theirs.
"When I saw the opportunity calling for STEM students to be ambassadors for their majors, I thought, ‘Well, I love my major, and I love to talk about it,’” Bristol said with a laugh.
Bristol added that she's still naturally shy, but the program has helped her get comfortable being a leader to the next generation of STEM leaders.
The program offers mentorship to local high schoolers interested in STEM fields by pairing them with current Huskers, giving them a sense of the opportunities that await them at Nebraska. By leveraging Bristol and her fellow Husker ambassadors’ insights, students arrive on campus feeling more prepared.
Bristol meets with her group every other week to talk about goals, answer questions about college, and chat about anything else interesting in their lives, she said.
"My program manager, Erin Ingram, has helped me so much in my personal development and building confidence in my leadership skills," Bristol said, "which helps me be a better mentor to my students."
For Bristol, having high school not too far in the rearview helps her alleviate the stress that her mentees may be experiencing.
"High school can feel like such a huge time in your life," she said. "It's nice as a mentor to be able to relate back to all the things that I worried about in high school and just be like, 'Oh, guys, don't sweat it. You'll be totally fine and everything will work out as it should.'"
