Verizon Volunteers Look Back at a Year of Remote Service
2020 was a year of crisis and inequality, but it was also a year of lessons learned. When physical classrooms disappeared, corporate volunteers at Verizon stepped up and empowered thousands of students to achieve their academic goals this school year. We’re excited to celebrate the accomplishments of the participants in the Verizon employee volunteer program and what they learned as we look forward to another year of partnership with Verizon in 2021!
Angie Lopez
Angie is an internal audit team leader, passionate Verizon volunteer and proud owner of two adorable dogs. As a tutor she leverages the coaching skills she’s honed as a team leader to help her students become more confident and develop their critical thinking skills.
UPchieve in a word: Inspiring — seeing how students are taking control of their own academic journey despite everything else that’s going on in the world or in their lives. It makes me feel more hopeful about the future!
What’s one thing you learned as an Academic Coach? I’ve been able to develop my coaching skills and focus on helping other people develop their abilities and confidence. As a volunteer, I walk the student through their problem step by step and ask them lots of questions to help them get to the right answer by themselves.
A lot of students come into a session feeling defeated and saying that they don’t understand. After we break the problem down into smaller pieces, they realize that they know more than they thought! I can tell how proud the students feel when they “get it”. It’s awesome to see them leaving the session feeling better and more confident than when we started.
Being an Academic Coach has also made me more mindful that life is more than just work. I’ve always been passionate about volunteering, but UPchieve has given me the opportunity to give back in a way that is flexible and fits into my schedule. I’m happiest when I’m helping someone else!
Mehul Patel
Mehul leads a process excellence team at Verizon Connect where he challenges the status quo to help transform processes and experiences. He channels his passion for life-long learning and education both as a tutor on UPchieve and an adjunct professor of mathematics and statistics at his local college.
UPchieve in a word: Transcendence and joyfulness — the feeling that you helped someone, even if it seemed like something short-term, and knowing that there will be greater value in the long term, even past what they can see. There's no substitute to that feeling.
What’s one thing you learned as an Academic Coach? The biggest thing I’ve gained in the ability to see different perspectives. When I first begin a coaching session on UPchieve, I don’t know where the student is coming from — both in terms of their academic journey and in their ability to understand the subject matter the way I’m explaining it.
I’ve learned how to relate to the student, empathize with them, and, without really knowing them, to respect their perspective. I use different tactics to accomplish this — for example, making the student feel relaxed and comfortable asking their question is really important.
Then I bring in design thinking to figure out: what is their unmet need? Do they want to really understand the concept or just know enough to pass in their homework assignment? I figure out what the student needs to get done and help them get there — even if it means doing things differently than I normally would.
Sam Timms
Currently residing in New Jersey, but originally hailing from the Midwest, Sam is a Senior Manager of Program and Project Management at Verizon. Leading Verizon’s Sales Journey Team, he and his team dig into customer sales stories to learn why customers have good experiences and where experiences could and should be improved.
UPchieve in a word: Soul-fulfilling
What’s one thing you learned as an Academic Coach? Volunteering has impassioned me to become more involved with the education system. I wanted to become an Academic Coach because I believe quality education is the greatest thing you can do to help students become upwardly mobile.
Working directly with students on UPchieve really laid bare the gaps that many students have in their education. For example, some of the students I’ve worked with don't even have textbooks to use. It’s inspired me to want to help more and in different ways, for example, becoming more politically active.
Once things open back up, I’m excited to do some in-person tutoring with students as well!
Final Thoughts on Remote Service
Thanks to Angie, Mehul, Sam and all our Verizon volunteers for inspiring a love of learning in students across the U.S. Together, they’re moving us towards a future where the opportunity gap doesn’t exist!
If this blog post leaves you feeling inspired, learn how you can get your entire company involved with UPchieve by joining us as a corporate partner! Corporate partnerships harness the potential of virtual volunteering to make a difference in education equity across the U.S. If you’re interested in learning about how remote volunteering can boost employee engagement at your company, e-mail us at partnerships@upchieve.org!