Moreno 1

Emily Moreno

Professor Isabel Garcia

ENGL 134

4 February 2024

The Impact of a Great Person.

Among the 400+ clubs and organizations here at Cal Poly, there is one called Educational

Opportunity Program (EOP), with the main purpose to help students navigate their way through

college. Cal Poly is the first to establish EOP within the CSU (California State University)

system. It’s been a program at Cal Poly since 1968, and just one year later California Legislature

passed to establish EOP in California (The Educational Opportunity Program at Cal Poly). Ever

since, EOP has provided support to students who are first generation students, many who were

far away from home, and just anyone struggling and needs help. What started off as an

organization fifty years back, is now a student academic service with over 600 eligible students

here at Cal Poly. A wide range of highly successful academic enhancement services have been

borne out of EOP staff creativity, including Summer Institute, Study Sessions and grants

available to students (The Educational Opportunity Program at Cal Poly).

There are currently three counselors who help run EOP, who are: Cynthia Diaz, Drexler

Alcantara, and Robert Ruiz. They are all amazing and have made an impact on the lives of many

students, but the one that stands out is Drexler. The first time I had talked to Drex was in my

senior year of high school where he guided me through what Summer Institute, a summer

program with EOP, would be like. Right from that meeting he seemed caring and nice, even

though he hadn’t known who I was or even seen my face since it was over zoom. On my first

day of summer institute he introduced himself to me with one of the biggest smiles I have ever

seen. I didn’t really pay much attention to it because I’d assume he had to do that with every
 Moreno 2

student, but I soon noticed the importance he had to build connections with the students of EOP.

When asked what’s his favorite way of getting to know students, Drex replied with saying

knowing their backgrounds, their families, and their personal life desires. That was one thing I

noticed as well, before he asked about my major or the basic information, he wanted to know

what I am passionate about.

Drex has worked at Cal Poly for about 2 and a half years, and it has been a culture shock

to him, coming from a diverse town. Although he still faces imposter syndrome when meeting

with college administration, he wouldn’t change his position if given the chance, because it

serves his life purpose, and he can go home every day knowing he made an impact in someone’s

life.

One of the requirements for EOP has been to meet with a counselor of your choice once a

quarter to serve as a check in to how you're doing. For Drex, students tend to meet with him

every day. He meets with about 40 students a week depending on the month, but typically his

busiest time is when students are registering for classes. Drex tends to help students the most

with is learning how to network with people outside the circle of friends that will benefit them in

their career.

As one of the counselors of EOP, Drex tends to lead multiple of the events EOP has to

offer. Some of them being fall welcome, Friendsgiving, study breaks, workshops, EOP end of

the year celebration, CSU EOP Leadership conference, and Summer Institute. I was one of the

EOP students that was fortunate enough to attend summer institute, where incoming freshman

students took summer courses, giving them a look into what college is like. I was very nervous

and scared, but I felt at ease once I knew the multiple resources I was offered by EOP. Like I

mentioned before Drex was one of the counselors, I was familiar with, but didn’t really seek out

for his help. This did not stop him from interacting with students, anytime I would run into him
 Moreno 3

he’d always say hi or ask how my time was going at Summer Institute. Although most students

didn’t really talk to him or seek out his help, he always made it known that he was there for

anything they needed, whether it was personal or academic. A lot of the students noticed that if

they needed something Drex was always quick to help them. I ended up growing a bond with

Drex and anytime I need academic help or just someone to talk with he’s the first I go to.

Another event I got the opportunity to

attend was the CSU EOP Leadership conference.

Every year EOP has a leadership conference

where select students were able to attend.

Students strengthen their team building,

leadership skills and learn the importance of

EOP. This year Cal Poly EOP hosted this

conference where over 4 different CSU’s schools

attended. Students learned about the history of

the 50+ year program that is renowned amongst

California that is the Educational Opportunity

Program. At the conference students got to hear

multiple public speakers that talked not only

Students attended CSU EOP Leadership Conference at Cal
Poly. (Drexler).
about educational resources but mental health and self-care. The students got to interact with

other EOP students as well as find ways to improve EOP at their schools. Drex was one of the

organizers and invited me and 9 other students to attend this conference because he sees us being

leaders in the future. During the conference Drex would push us to share our ideas, and to

interact with the other schools. Everyone that attended was appreciative of the opportunity given

to them because they left that conference with their leadership skills strengthened.
 Moreno 4

Counseling can be a big position to do, especially at a college level. When asked what his

motivation was to become a counselor, Drex said that his mentor inspired him because they gave

him advice and provided support that really helped him. He wants to pay it forward by being that

mentor for students. His ultimate motivation though is the students and his family, because he

wants to be able to lead by example, but also show that anything is possible if you put your mind

to it. At first when he first started at Cal Poly, he assumed that each student comes with the same

situation but soon after months of working with the students, he realized that they each come

with different problems that need different solutions which excite to help and assist and support

these students. He is glad he can share his own life experiences and learn from his mistakes to

help students succeed.

Some of the pieces of advice he has to offer are to embrace the journey and remember

your why, because the process is always greater than the outcome. Making sure to evaluate your

circle of friends is important because you're going to come across different people throughout

your life and maybe they'll only be friends with you at that specific stage of life. But you also

want to be friends with people that will cheer you on, and people who will always be there no

matter the situation.

For me one of those people are Drex. He has been a great mentor and has inspired me and

many of the EOP students to push ourselves to become leaders who take initiative in what we

believe. Although he has not been at Cal Poly for a long time, he has helped many students that

they always go back to him for anything, even as post-grads.

 Moreno 5

Works Cited

Alcantara, Drexler. CSU EOP Leadership Conference. 2024, San Luis Obispo.

Alcantara, Drexler. Personal Interview. 01 February 2024

“EOP History.” The California State University, 2024, www.calstate.edu/attend/student-

services/eop/Pages/eop-history.aspx. Accessed 6 Feb. 2024.

Final Reflection
 Moreno 6

1. Describe how your project developed. What were your initial thoughts about it? How

did your thinking and understanding of your subject, interviewing, analysis, or

writing change as a result of doing this work?

When I first got this assignment assigned, I was excited because I had one person in

mind who I wanted to write about. My interviewer was very understanding and

helpful about my assignment, so it was easy getting the information I needed. I have a

close bond with Drexler, so writing about him was really easy. When researching

about EOP I found out a lot more about the program which helped me get an idea of

the change they are creating is. Overall, I liked this assignment because it allows me

to give the recognition Drex deserves.

2. As a writer, what were you hoping your profile would do? What audiences were you

trying to reach, and what effect did you hope to have on them?

I hope my profile can bring appreciation to the counselors to EOP, especially Drex.

The audience that I want to reach is EOP students at Cal Poly to inform them of the

resources they have.

3. For each of the following educational outcomes, describe 1) one way this

assignment sequence helped you achieve the outcome and 2) one way the assignment

sequence could be changed to help you better achieve the outcome. In your

responses, give examples from your own writing process.

1. Explain how audience and rhetorical situation influence topic, genre,

content, and style in composing effective written communications (EO 1)

 Moreno 7

This assignment helped because it allowed me to know what words to

utilize in my profile since I was directing it towards students. I don’t

believe this assignment needs to be changed in order for me to achieve

this goal because I feel like I fulfilled it.

2. Recognize that the writing process is necessary to the discovery,

development, and clarification of ideas (EO 3)

When doing this assignment, it was really helpful finding sources,

interviews, and pictures before because it made it easier to brainstorm

what I wanted to mention. Allowing us more time to find these sources

could be helpful in the future in order to further fulfill this educational

outcome.

3. Demonstrate information literacy through the successful search,

discovery, critical evaluation, and ethical reporting of information (EO 4)

When doing this assignment, I wanted to provide background information

of EOP, so I conducted research to give my audience more information

about EOP. This assignment helped me fulfill this outcome perfectly and

didn’t need no fixing.

4. Employ sound reasoning, effective organization, and accuracy in

expression based on audience awareness and an understanding of cultural

differences in communication norms and practices (EO 5)

 Moreno 8

Through my essay I tried to organize it by first giving background about

my subject them explaining their qualities. I was not bias in my essay and

mentioned important events that support my essay. By adding more of an

explanation to the requirements of the sequence would be helpful to fulfill

this educational outcome.

4. What is the strongest part of your final draft? What is the weakest part? If you could

continue to revise this essay, what would you like to change?

I think the strongest part of my final draft is the introduction because I explained

the background of EOP well. The weakest part would be my sixth paragraph

because I feel like I don’t incorporate the change being made well enough. If I

could continue to revise this essay I would include more details of changes being

made from my subject.