UniCamp leader aims to help children from underserved communities

Luis Mendez spent his childhood summers among the trees of Camp River Glen.

Now, as a counselor and leader at UniCamp, he watches his mentees make cardboard boats and race them across the water, as he did 10 years ago at the same camp.

UniCamp is a student-run nonprofit organization that hosts an annual summer camp for children and teens from underserved neighborhoods.

Mendez, a fourth-year psychology student, spent four summers as a UniCamp camper and another four as a volunteer. He added he wants to be an inspirational mentor for his kids, as his counselors were for him.

As a counselor, Mendez taught kids how to ride their bikes in the high altitudes of the mountains and showed younger children how to swim. Last year, he joined UniCore, where he taught leadership skills to high school students. This year, Mendez will organize a camping session with three other volunteers and provide support to students who come from underserved communities.

As a former camper, Mendez thinks he can improve how the camp operates and better inspire children from underserved community to pursue higher education. He added his counselors and advisers were good resources when he prepared for college, and helped guide him when he decided he wanted to attend UCLA.

He said the hardest part of his job is balancing his time equally between school, research and his role as a UniCamp leader. Mendez was also recently accepted into the University of Michigan’s graduate school to pursue a doctoral degree in psychology. He said his interest in psychology stems from his fascination with human behavior.

During spring quarter, Mendez will teach a class about psychological perspectives of happiness. Mendez said the class will discuss relationships between happiness and social interaction, human development and biological functions.

In the future, Mendez hopes to become a psychology professor because he doesn’t think there are enough Hispanic professors who teach in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.

“I definitely want to be able to be a role model for other people like me because I feel there is a lack of (inspiration),” Mendez said. “That is a huge motivation for me.”