{"id":242212,"date":"2017-05-03T13:03:50","date_gmt":"2017-05-03T17:03:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=242212"},"modified":"2017-05-16T17:06:41","modified_gmt":"2017-05-16T21:06:41","slug":"crystal-colon-finding-a-passion-for-education-242212","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/crystal-colon-finding-a-passion-for-education-242212\/","title":{"rendered":"Crystal Colon: Finding a passion for education"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"embed-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tMGBnGCkW0E\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Crystal Colon didn\u2019t set out to become a role model and leader in improving the education system in the Rochester area. But her involvement in activities both on and off campus inspired her to shift her focus away from the business major she envisioned as a first-year student.<\/p>\n<p>Colon\u2014an English major with a focus in language, media, and communication\u2014graduated from Rochester\u2019s East High School after moving to the area from New Brunswick, New Jersey, during her junior year.<\/p>\n<p>Since her sophomore year at the University, Colon has dedicated more than 600 hours as a tutor for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/college\/rccl\/service\/leap\/index.html\"><strong>LEAP (Learning and Exploring at Play<\/strong>)<\/a>, a University early childhood literacy program run through the Rochester Center for Community Leadership. With the University\u2019s <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/rccl\/service\/urbanfellows\/index.html\">Urban Fellows<\/a><\/strong> program, Colon spent a summer coordinating the Summer Safe Haven program at Cameron Community Ministries, helping to keep urban children safe, occupied, and learning during the summer months.<\/p>\n<p>She says she has developed a strong bond with the kids she has tutored through the LEAP program.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/commencement\/2017\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright grow size-full wp-image-245632\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/class-of-2017-slug.png\" alt=\"graphic reads CLASS OF 2017\" width=\"300\" height=\"224\" style=\"border:none;\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe kids have this bond, and they gain this connection with their tutor throughout the entire academic year until graduation day in April or May,\u201d she says. \u201cThe students love it so much.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Colon also holds leadership roles as the youth leader and youth counselor at her church, Overflow Christian Ministries, and as the administrative assistant for Rochester Youth Association, where she has organized collaborative events with other youth leaders from churches around the city.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYounger students need to see that there are people who went through the city school district who are minorities and are now in college and accomplishing things,\u201d Colon says. \u201cThey can do it as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For her passion and dedication, Colon has received multiple awards and scholarships from the University, including the David T. Kearns Scholarship, the Brady Scholarship, and the Dean Ruth A. Merrill Award from the Susan B. Anthony Center for Community Leadership for her extensive engagement and service in the Rochester community. Earlier this year, she received the Independent Sector Student Community Service Award from the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities for her commitment to community service and positive impacts on the local community.<\/p>\n<p>Next year, she will enroll in the University&#8217;s <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.warner.rochester.edu\/\">Warner School of Education <\/a><\/strong>to pursue her master\u2019s degree in teaching and curriculum as she works to become a high school English teacher.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRochester has so much potential,\u201d Colon says about the city\u2019s public school district. \u201cThe students have the brains. They have the inspiration. They have the energy. But sometimes they just don\u2019t have the connections\u2014those role models that can really steer them toward the right direction. I feel that if I\u2019m being that role model, being that mentor, being that educator, they will be able to see that it\u2019s possible to achieve your dreams, to reach for your goals.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Colon will pursue her master&#8217;s degree in teaching and curriculum as she works to become a high school English teacher. \u201cYounger students need to see that there are people who went through the city school district who are minorities and are now in college and accomplishing things,\u201d she says. \u201cThey can do it as well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":242222,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[21672],"class_list":["post-242212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","tag-class-of-2017"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Crystal Colon: Finding a passion for education<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/crystal-colon-finding-a-passion-for-education-242212\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Crystal Colon: Finding a passion for education\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Colon will pursue her master&#039;s degree in teaching and curriculum as she works to become a high school English teacher. \u201cYounger students need to see that there are people who went through the city school district who are minorities and are now in college and accomplishing things,\u201d she says. \u201cThey can do it as well.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/crystal-colon-finding-a-passion-for-education-242212\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-05-03T17:03:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-05-16T21:06:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/seniors_Crystal_Colon.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jennifer Roach\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jennifer Roach\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/crystal-colon-finding-a-passion-for-education-242212\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/crystal-colon-finding-a-passion-for-education-242212\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jennifer Roach\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0768acf0abf9535c0d838bcd77c3e9cd\"},\"headline\":\"Crystal Colon: Finding a passion for education\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-05-03T17:03:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-05-16T21:06:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/crystal-colon-finding-a-passion-for-education-242212\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":487,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/crystal-colon-finding-a-passion-for-education-242212\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/05\\\/seniors_Crystal_Colon.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Class of 2017\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Campus &amp; 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