Scripps College softball player Marissa Valdovinos (left) was interviewed and featured in NCAA Champion magazine along with her fellow Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) Athletics teammates regarding their mentoring of elementary-age girls. Justin Tafoya/NCAA Photos
Scripps softball player Marissa Valdovinos was interviewed and featured in NCAA Champion magazine along with her fellow Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) Athletics teammates regarding their mentoring of elementary-age girls as participants in Stand Strong programming to help end bullying and build confidence. Valdovinos and teammates teach the tween girls important life skills and lessons, on and off the field, through their weekly interactions at Mountain View Elementary School in Claremont.
“I feel truly blessed to be able to spend every other Monday with these brilliant young women,” Valdovinos, a Scripps first-year student, said. “They inspire me to be my best self on and off the field. I hope to teach them how to love themselves and how to be assertive because I often struggled with that growing up.”
Valdovinos explains how the CMS softball team had taken a self-defense course in January, and also participated in Stand Strong workshops, and were eager to share their learning about boundaries and how to be assertive with their young once-a-week charges at Mountain View.
“We reenacted situations that third grade students often face, like bullying, insults, and friendship issues. The girls then asked advice on how to handle personal situations that they were going through—most of them related to body image,” Valdovinos said. “My teammates and I opened up about our own experiences in elementary school: we had been bullied for our hair, our clothes, our athleticism, our passions, and even our gender. It was a special moment that established a bond between us and the girls.”
Valdovinos said the experience gave the Class of 2020 undergraduate wisdom she’d want to share with her Scripps College classmates, too: “The main message I would like my Scripps sisters to trust is that our ambitiousness, wholesome compassion, and strength can inspire others. If we are willing to step out of our comfort zones, we can inspire a generation of young, tenacious women.”
