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What Students Learned About Trust and Advocacy as Relational Processes by Showing Up and Staying Present
What does it really mean to help someone? For many students volunteering with the Chicago Education Advocacy Cooperative (ChiEAC), this question took on new meaning. Through working alongside migrant families navigating school enrollment, housing instability, and mental stress, students came to understand that trust and advocacy are not products.
They are processes. And they are deeply relational.
“I learned that trust is something that you build through consistency and listening. It doesn’t happen all at once,” one student reflected. That insight, grounded in symbolic interactionism, underscores how trust is shaped not by institutional roles or titles but through small, repeated acts of meaning. Eye contact. A calm tone. A familiar presence. These moments carry weight and contribute to how relationships are formed.
Another student shared, “Trust was earned over time through eye contact, language, tone, and just being physically present. That taught me a lot.”
This illustrates how even nonverbal communication plays a powerful role in social connection. When we think of advocacy, we often imagine speaking on behalf of others. But as students learned, advocacy often starts with quiet presence and…
