Meet our 2016 Inspiration Awards Gala student speaker!
Apex mentee Ken Bamba, a current senior at Brooklyn Tech, shared his experiences at the gala about Apex and how Apex has impacted his life. For example, Apex has strengthened ties between Ken and his two brothers, also participants in the mentoring program. With their different school and sports schedules, there wasn’t much time left for family, but Apex was the one program they were all in. This gave them more time to interact and spend time together.
Ken has recently received a full ride to Dickinson College through the Posse Foundation, nominated by Apex staff. With support from his mentor, “Big Ken,” Ken has decided to major in civil engineering, an interest that “Big Ken” helped cultivate. Learn more about Ken and his experiences from an excerpt of his speech below.
Even though I was born here, Japanese was my first language. I had to take ESL class to learn English until 4th grade. I never knew how to put my thoughts into words and I didn’t speak much because I was scared to say the wrong thing […] The language barrier made it hard to make friends […] It wasn’t until I joined Apex’s mentoring program in 6th grade that I finally learned to express myself. The idea of having a mentor to guide me through life and different obstacles seemed amazing. I was matched with my mentor Ken and we have been together for 7 years.
My mentor was more than I could have ever dreamed of. I knew we were a great match because of the sheer number of similarities we had, like our love for the outdoors, sports, animals and even our taste in food. I felt an instant connection with him and it helped that we shared the same name; people even started calling us Big Ken and Little Ken. Ken has always been a role model and brother to me, someone I just love being around. I genuinely believe he’s the main reason I am who I am today.
My favorite memory of Ken may be when I was taking a class called Digital Electronics, an introduction to coding and circuits. When Ken found out, he surprised me with my own Arduino kit. I had no idea what it was. He explained that it was a programming platform and met with me multiple times to teach me how to use it. Together we were able to write our first code and my interest in electronics flourished; he paved the way for me to develop my interests and passions.
Ken also encouraged me to speak up for myself. While helping me prepare for the Specialized High School exam, Ken gave me a choice whenever I couldn’t solve a problem: Go introduce myself to mentors and mentees and ask them for help or… do 5 pushups. I had a LOT of problems I couldn’t solve so I usually chose the first. Even with Ken by my side, it was hard…but I did it. And it helped me to become a more outgoing person who’s not afraid to meet new people.
Ken always challenged me to try new experiences I wouldn’t have been able to do on my own […] When he took me rock climbing years ago, I was so terrified of heights, just the thought of it brought cold sweats to my body. But Ken led me through tons of exercises and made sure I knew I was safe as he belayed me. With his support, I eventually tried the 20 foot climb. When I reached the top, I felt a great sense of pride, and since then, my fear of heights has almost disappeared. For a recent Apex event, we went rope climbing on a course 85 feet tall. I felt great on my way to the top; and this time, I even cheered people on to help them overcome their own fears. Ken taught me to love the things I first feared and to not be afraid to take risks.