By Daniel Choi, BRIDGE Historian

Through his dedication to the program, Joshua Nam, KYCC BRIDGE President, is an inspiration to other volunteers. During the summer, he volunteered 30 hours a week, double the amount required for volunteers. Most days, he walked over 1.5 miles each way to attend the meetings.

His role as the president is to maintain the quality of the program. Every day, he organizes events, assigns work to the volunteers, manages communications between staff and BRIDGE, and shows great effort in building relationships with members of KYCC.

“Joshua stood out from the moment he started BRIDGE,” says Heather Jun, KYCC BRIDGE Coordinator. “He warmed up to the children and asked teachers if they needed extra support. His initiative and engagement are extraordinary.”

Joshua is a senior at the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies (LACES) and takes public transportation to KYCC to fulfill his weekly commitments to BRIDGE. He walks 30-40 minutes from the bus stop to volunteer. Though his days are packed with several AP classes and church activities, you can always find him at Wilton Center for his weekly (and sometimes weekend) BRIDGE shifts.

Each year, KYCC Wilton’s BRIDGE program has about 100 high school volunteers who help with our elementary and middle school programs. High school volunteers put in an average of 4 hours per week during the school year and 15 hours per week during the summer, which results in thousands of community service hours. The volunteers go through an intensive interview process to ensure the quality of our volunteers. Once accepted to the program, volunteers are trained by the BRIDGE student representatives (also known as “Officers”).

Joshua started volunteering with BRIDGE in the summer of 2016. Jenny Bong, the former president of BRIDGE, encouraged Joshua to apply for the position, believing that he would be a great person for the job. His first day as president was June 19, 2017, and he still holds the position today.

(Photo by Daniel Choi)