EC Bridge Builds Early Momentum for First-Year Students

The summer offering invites Emmanuel students to move onto campus a week early and participate in a week of math preparation, enrichment and academic success strategies. 

While getting accustomed to campus and meeting their fellow students for the first time, participants are boosting their confidence in math and building a baseline of academic momentum to start their college careers with momentum.

The curriculum-prep program ran for the second time at Emmanuel from August 25th to the 29th, with 25 participating students. Spirits were high in the classroom last week as students prepared for their math coursework and geared up for the excitement of their first week of college.

Participating students, like Stephanie Torres ’29, were feeling readier than ever to start the semester after their week of review. The instructors were really comforting and knew when to step in and help, she said: “it was clear that they really cared for our education.”

Founder and Executive Director of The Calculus Project (TCP), Dr. Adrian Mims Sr., has been partnering with Emmanuel College for a number of years, not just on EC Bridge, but hosting students in grades 8-12 on campus throughout the summer for math prep courses as well.

A number of different departments across campus, including Admissions, the College’s Mathematics department and the Office of Community Engagement, came together to make EC Bridge a successful springboard for participating first-year students.

“We love to do this work,” said Vice President of Community Engagement, Dr. Keith Lezama ’07. “It’s thanks to everyone’s efforts across campus and The Calculus Project that we made this possible.”

EC Bridge is crucial for giving students a refresher on their math skills that they may not even realize they need, Dr. Mims said. In some cases, he said, first-year college students didn’t take math as seniors in high school, so the EC Bridge program forms a nurturing environment where the students can build those math skills.

“We encourage them to work together as much as possible and have a growth mindset,” Dr. Mims said, “no one becomes a mathematician overnight. It takes practice, you have to ask questions!”

After its first year in 2024, EC Bridge has proven results: last year’s cohort had a 100 percent success rate, meaning every student who participated went on to complete their entry-level algebra course at Emmanuel.

Hannah Turner ’29, who wants to teach elementary school students, gained a better understanding of how to perceive math, which she said will inform her teaching methods in the future. Now that she’s participated in EC Bridge, she feels even more prepared to share a nuanced approach to math with others.

“I can show people that with time, you can get comfortable with it [math]. Now I’m feeling excited and confident for the semester…I would definitely recommend it [EC Bridge] if you’re struggling with math,” Turner said.

Not only does EC Bridge provide an academic refresher for students, but it also gets them exposed to campus and the Emmanuel community a week early – a feature of the program that first years Aidan Huvane ‘29, Nick Oakley ‘29 and Andrew Convery ‘29 have appreciated.

“It feels great to have met each other already – and we have a friend group going even before classes have started,” Convery said.

The program itself was eye-opening, Huvane added, as a way to warm up to college and build relationships with fellow students and other people on campus. Plus, the math coursework was a welcome challenge. “This course was definitely humbling,” he added.

This was another feature of EC Bridge that the students appreciated, Oakley said. “Dr. Mims did a great job of making sure everyone was on the same page and truly understands. He doesn’t dial it down – he makes it accessible.”