Mentor Profile: Victor Meyerfreund

Victor is RTE's newest mentor and previously mentored Paly students in the Advanced Authentic Research course. He joined RTE and hit the ground running, mentoring 8 students from Paly’s Class of 2024. He loves working with young people and helping them reach their dreams of higher education.

Q: What do you get out of mentoring?

A: Mentoring brings me a sense of fulfillment and allows me the opportunity to give back. I feel good helping my mentees because sometimes they would be inclined to give up on college, but providing guidance and support allows them to keep going. Being a mentor really feels like you are making a difference in the lives of other people. I think that's my biggest achievement. Another thing is that mentoring allows me to better relate to my own kids, as my daughter just went to college and my son is a senior in high school. The funny thing is, I think that my mentees take what I say much more seriously than my own kids!

Scholar Profile: Samantha Mann

Samantha Mann is a Paly Class of 2024 graduate and is Victor’s mentee. She is attending California Polytechnic Institute at San Luis Obispo and majoring in Chemistry. While enjoying the learning challenges during her first semester, Samantha also joined the Thai Vietnamese Student Association to meet new friends. She also met a fellow local Palo Alto graduate who’s been her “Big” during her time there.

Q: How did you decide to go to Cal Poly?

A: I was actually planning to go to San Jose State because it was close to home, and I could live with my family instead of on campus. But then I got off the waitlist for Cal Poly in June. At the time, I was doing a senior rise-up camp for first-gen students to help with college preparation, so I asked the college counselors for advice on choosing between San Jose State and Cal Poly.

In the end, I decided on Cal Poly because I felt like I needed that independence, but it is still close enough — only three hours away — so I can come back on weekends if I want to. Also, I really wanted a smaller learning environment where I could actually connect with my professors. I learn way better in a class of 30 students than in a huge lecture hall with 200 people.

RTE in the Community

On February 4th, our wonderful RTE alumni, Allison Salinas and Brianna Moreno-Alcocer, participated in a Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce Mixer and non-profit Volunteer Match event at the Crowne Plaza Cabana. The goal of the event was to allow Palo Alto-based nonprofits like RTE to meet those in the business community who are potentially interested in becoming volunteers.  They found the event successful, with many attendees expressing interest in our organization. RTE looks forward to participating in future Chamber events to continue to drive awareness of RTE’s mission!

We are excited to announce that Allison and Brianna recently were voted in as RTE Board Members! They bring new energy and insights which will allow us to continue to improve upon our program for our scholars.

In the News: NY Times Guest Essay: “College Can’t Be Only for the Rich”

The January 10th issue of the New York Times included a compelling essay by Enoch Ellis and Siddhu Pachipala, undergraduate students at MIT. The op-ed made the case for Congress ensuring that college is accessible to all by increasing funding for the Pell Grant. Read their essay here.

RTE is looking for VOLUNTEERS to help with our communications committee. We seek individuals with experience in Marketing, Public Relations, and related fields who could bring their expertise to assist in delivering on our mission of driving awareness in the local community and beyond about RTE's important work and to highlight our amazing scholars.

PALY STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES application is open for the 2025-2026 school year and is due April 15, 2025.

Interested in making a difference? List of volunteer and mentoring needs are here. Reach out to info@risetogethered.org. We would love to hear from you!