Delia Portley knows what it means to put yourself before others. She’s been doing it since she was a little girl.
Portley, Metropolitan Volunteer Program’s Achieve Program coordinator, first began volunteering through music. She learned to play the violin and used her talent to teach others.
"I’ve played the violin since I was five and have volunteered at hospitals and nursing homes since then," Portley, a chemical engineering junior, said. "But when I was that young my mom would get me involved and as I got older I found other types of opportunities on my own."
When Portley attended orientation at UH she heard about the Metropolitan Volunteer Program, but didn’t get involved until she decided to attend an informational meeting last spring.
"At the meeting they said they were looking for a coordinator for the Achieve Program, which focuses on college prep tutoring," Portley said. "This was right up my alley, so I applied, got the position and went to work."
The Achieve Program is a program set up with Jack Yates High School. The college preparaory tutoring program specializes in helping juniors and seniors plan for a future in higher education by offering tutoring in Math, Science, Social Science and English.
Through the program, high school students who may not have thought about going to college are mentored and tutored by students already suceeding in college.
"Outside of tutoring we also aim to provide the students with other college-directed programs in order to spark their attention and motivate them for higher education," Portley said.
Being the coordinator of the program requires Portley to recruit UH students both to volunteer and act as a link between MVP and the high school.
One of the program’s shining moments came last spring, when MVP helped coordinate an assembly for graduating seniors of the high school who had not yet decided to pursue a college education, Portley said.
The program presented guest representatives from 100 Black Men of America, Houston Community College and the high school’s faculty. The first student to apply to HCC that day also received a scholarship.
It is a day Portley describes as one of the most satisfying and inspiring since she’s been with MVP.
"Before the program, there was roughly 30 students who weren’t thinking about college and by the end of the program, 16 of them had applied and one student received the scholarship," Porley said. "That was such a powerful effort for both the students at Yates as well as myself and the directors of MVP at that time."
Portley said her job not only allows her to have a mentor relationship with the students, but also forces her to become a more responsible person.
It has made her more proactive and forced her to stay on top of her game to keep the program effective, she said.
"The toughest part of being a volunteer in the role I’m in is making sure that progress is in motion," Portley said. "At the end of the day, the most important thing is making a difference and being able to see it."
