Each year, BRIDGE enrolls about 50 students. The program is reserved for students who have been admitted into the School of Engineering and reflect underrepresented groups in engineering, including women, African Americans, Hispanics, Puerto Ricans and Native Americans.<\/p>\n McLaughlin said a handful of students have chosen to attend UConn solely based on the opportunity to attend BRIDGE, including a student who chose UConn over Cornell because he felt that the program would help start him off \u201con the right foot.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cKids at urban high schools may not get the same curriculum advantages,\u201d McLaughlin said. \u201cWe help them review math and science subjects and get started in programming. Very few high school kids have any experience in programming.\u201d<\/p>\n The program consists of 120 hours of coursework in math, physics, chemistry and computing, intensive study sessions and plenty of homework. McLaughlin said that instructors often refer to BRIDGE as \u201cboot camp.\u201d<\/p>\n While navigating tough coursework, the unfamiliar college environment and high expectations, many BRIDGE students experience bouts of self-doubt.\u00a0 McLaughlin recalled taking time this past summer to speak with a BRIDGE student who was struggling to adjust to the demanding nature of the coursework.<\/p>\n \u201cOne hour later, he walked out a new guy,\u201d McLaughlin said. \u201cI had tutors coming up to me saying, \u2018Kevin, a miracle happened.\u2019 Now he\u2019s one of the biggest volunteers we have in the school [of engineering].\u201d<\/p>\n Delaney Turner, a freshman studying biomedical engineering<\/a> and planning to attend dental school, graduated from BRIDGE this past summer. \u201cYou get to know Kevin,\u201d she said of McLaughlin, who teaches the Introduction to Engineering course each semester. \u201cHe\u2019s such a visible professor in the engineering department.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe class he teaches has 300 people in it, but he knows your face and your name,\u201d Turner said.<\/p>\n The student mentors also make an impact on BRIDGE participants. \u201cThe tutors are all great,\u201d Turner said. \u201cIt\u2019s not a superiority thing; they talk to you as a friend.\u201d<\/p>\n And the rigorous coursework has definitely given her an advantage in the classroom. \u201cWhere it counts toward my GPA, I know what I\u2019m doing,\u201d Turner said. \u201cI definitely feel that I have an edge. Everybody knows us as \u2018the BRIDGE kids\u2019 because we all know what we are talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/d45h139.public.uconn.edu\/sites\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/bridge1.jpg\" "\\"bridge1\\"")
<\/a>Their motivation?\u00a0 Personal experience. As BRIDGE participants, they were helped immeasurably by a mentor, the coursework itself or the strong community that emerges each year among fellow students, tutors and teachers, according to Kevin McLaughlin, director of UConn\u2019s Engineering Diversity Program<\/a>. \u201cThat\u2019s why [the tutors] love doing what they do, they know the impact first-hand.\u201d<\/p>\n