Bryan Luna is a Breakthrough New York student who is wrapping up his first year of high school. In this interview, he shares his Breakthrough experience and how the organization was able to support him in middle school and through his high school transition.
What did your Breakthrough sessions look like in middle school?
In Middle School, it was just coming off of the quarantine period. So, it was summer of 2022, and Breakthrough was doing a summer program from rising 7th graders to rising 9th graders. It was every weekday from 8-3:30pm, and we would do courses, we would do math, reading, writing, and science in the morning. In the afternoon, we got to take specific courses Breakthrough offered us to pick, like electives.
What were your favorite parts of the program during that time?
My favorite early Breakthrough was meeting new people and building relationships with them. I’ve made some long lasting relationships with people at Breakthrough because of common interests and coming from the same background.
What kind of support did Breakthrough offer when you were applying to high school?
When I was applying to high school, Breakthrough offered SHSAT and SSAT prep. They gave us questions that would be on the test from previous tests. They also provided help in creating essays and responses for schools. Because New York City high school admissions is very different to what other states do, you actually have to apply to these schools … Other schools consider essays, your grades, sometimes they’d have you do a video, so Breakthrough would help put all of these things together and make the application easier while also supporting us.
What was the most challenging part of applying to high schools?
The most challenging part was definitely the essays … Sometimes an essay prompt can be very niche to a school, and I would have to think very critically about what to write about — and keep in mind I was 12 years old.
Was there anything specific you were looking for in a high school?
I wanted a school that would really help me one-on-one or have time aside to help me because I sometimes struggle on topics I cover in school. At my old school, they didn’t really have time to go to my teachers and ask them for extra support. At Xavier, they do set up time aside so that students can meet with teachers and help them with topics they’re covering in class. My school does something different. They have a time in the schedule called Community Period. It’s a 40 minute break, you can use that time to hang out with friends, … do work, or meet with teachers to talk about the homework they assigned or topics from class … I use that period to get my work done or meet with teachers about the homework.
Can you describe a mentor or teacher at Breakthrough who made a big difference for you?
I would say the person who has helped me the most was my mentor who helped me throughout the high school admissions process. Her name was Destiny, she was the one who went over my application, made sure everything was in order. She helped me personally, challenges I was experiencing.
How’s Breakthrough has helped you grow personally and academically?
Breakthrough provided a lot of support to me academically and emotionally as well. They always have people that I can talk to and communicate about my thoughts, feelings, emotions, and what’s going on with my personal life. And they’ve been a really great support not just to me but my mother as well. They’ve supported my mom because she only speaks Spanish, … they were able to help her through the process of financial aid aspect [for private schools] … and helped her understand what she was doing.
How has your Breakthrough experience changed since entering high school?
In the summer program, they would have a class set aside, High School Transition, which is a class about how we can better transition to high school. They gave us scenarios … and we had to work out what to do in this scenario … and they actually got these examples from previous Breakthrough students, and we were able to problem solve with the scenarios that they gave us. At first, it was academics … it is now more about what you are open about, what career path you want to pursue, it’s more personal and more like self-reflection rather than academic success.
What are you looking forward to in the near or distant future with Breakthrough?
I’m looking forward to them helping me through the college application. I know from what my sister told me previously that the application process is vastly vastly different. I’m just ready for them to help me get my stuff situated and organized for me to send to colleges in the near future.
What advice would you give to a new student just starting at Breakthrough?
I would say to open up. Open up to new people, new adults who are now going to be in your life, and make long-lasting friendships because those friendships can be really useful in the future.
If you could describe Breakthrough in one word, what would it be and why?
I would describe them as supportive because, all in all, Breakthrough has really helped me and my family. They’ve helped me through the New York high school admissions process, they’ve helped me out academically, and transition to high school, and helped me prepare to go to high school. They have also been really supportive of me emotionally as well.
