By Lily Bermel

New Peer Leadership and prevention/intervention program teacher Jorge Membreño interned at BHS, Winthrop House, volunteered at Children’s Hospital and worked for a lobbying group which enabled him to meet the president and vice president.  He has played soccer his whole life, coached soccer and has a passion for singing.

What is your job here at BHS? What do you do?

I work in the substance abuse prevention/intervention department. I am a social worker here but I also teach Peer Leadership on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.

Why do you like doing this type of work-social working and helping out with kids?

I think it was a big career switch for me but I was volunteering at the Children’s Hospital in DC and I loved working with teens. I had coached soccer growing up I coached high school soccer, I coached travel soccer, and I played soccer my whole life. And then I did some tutoring as well as teaching voice lessons, so I’ve always worked with teenagers. I love the age group and it was just because I think there’s a difference between middle school and high school. I think high school is right at the point where, they’re so much more independent, they’ve got their thoughts formed, they’ve figured it out, and they just need a little extra guidance, and I’m very happy to be there for that guidance.

You said it was a career switch, so what did you do before?

So I was a communications associate for a lobbying group. And so that meant I would organize meetings, organize reporters, organize websites and help write press releases for our organization to be sent to the President and Vice President and Congress. So it was cool ‘cause I got to meet the President, Vice President, a lot of political big wigs. It was very different once I said I’m gonna start all over- I’d rather be doing social work.

What made you so passionate about doing something like this; completely changing your career?

I think it was a combination of the fact that I have a lot of cousins who are teenagers and the fact that I had been coaching for so long that I knew the age group just needed a little extra help, and watching the statistics about students who fall to substance abuse and watching it in my family itself; it became something that was very near and dear to my heart. So I decided to focus on substance abuse, specifically with adolescents.

When you were a kid, what did you see yourself being?

So when I was a kid, I wanted to grow up to be Batman. It might still happen, who knows. I would go between options. I wanted to be a cop, and then I wanted to work in the business world, and then I wanted to be President; so I tossed around all these ideas. When I got to high school, I was very set on either going into politics or going into business. I ended up going into kind of both after undergraduate, but I think my heart was definitely into something else.

What is your favorite part of your job so far?

My favorite part of my job is that it is always different. I think teenagers are interesting in that they are not as formulaic- there is no one way to figure a kid out, it is all about staying on your toes, and adapting to what they want, and just being there with them.

What do you like about BHS?

I would say I like the students a lot. I think it’s a very eclectic, diverse group of students and I think students are very passionate and very engaged in what they want. I feel like I get to work with all spectrum of kids, which is great for me.

Are there any changes, or things you would want to improve about either of the programs that you work with?

Sure. I think I wish there were more hours in the day. I mean I’m here at 7:30 am for Peer Leadership, and I leave at the end of the day. It’s always back to back meetings, meetings with kids, and I wish I could meet with everyone always. So if there were more hours, that would be great. I would also love a summer program. That’s one thing I would love to implement going forward, because once the school year ends, I feel like a lot of kids go off and do summer work, or camp, and those services aren’t readily available or they might not seek them out. I’d love to have a home base here at the school where kids can still come and check in.

That’s a good idea. And have you felt that you’ve really been able to change someone based off of your job working in this program or do you think that what you do can really help someone out?

Yes. I think support for anybody is pivotal for any type of change. The thing I love about my job is that the change isn’t up to me, it’s up to the student. I can say anything and everything I want to say, but it’s up to the student to make that decision and I’m just there to help them make it and support them if they do. But I’ve seen kids do really really great work and really change their lives in the time I’ve been here.

Lily Bermel can be contacted at [email protected]