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Greetings,
NASFAA 2007 in Washington, D.C. was a great experience! I especially enjoyed the one-day pre-conference - College Access: Creating and Sustaining Successful Collaborations - that preceded the conference. The focus of the pre-conference was on the importance of early awareness, a topic that is near and dear to me.
This full-day session highlighted the importance of early awareness. Sessions focused on creating an early awareness action plan, where to find tools and resources, and college access marketing. Hearing directly from the students on the panel as they told attendees what they heard and saw that changed their life, encouraging them to go to college, was a unique and highly informative experience. One of the most valuable pieces of information for me was provided by this panel that included a parent who had her child while in high school. She is now pursing a higher education at the same time as her child, a recent high school graduate and an early college student.
The panel also shared their perceptions, including that, when just starting to think about college while in high school, they weren't able to get the help they needed.Many needed to sign up with high school counselors at the beginning of the fall semester. Follow-up appointments were very difficult to arrange, often not taking place until the end of the year - often too late to properly prepare for college. A lot of students just end up saying, 'Forget it!'
I think this alone reinforces the fact that counselors are truly overworked and understaffed. Our students need our help!
Part of the biggest struggle is getting over students' own mindsets about college before even beginning to help them prepare for college. I came away from the workshop with some great ways to reach students to help them. Some things are simple, like using colorful information with just a few catchy words or making your websites "hot." Other ways to reach students are more involved, such as having colleges visit schools and offering more workshops to students during the evening.
If you're interested in receiving additional information I learned during the workshop or would like more information about early awareness, please email me at lsykes@glhec.org.
I was thrilled that NASFAA recognized the importance of college access. Having a full day jammed packed with wonderful information shows their commitment to this effort. I left the workshop with many ideas to continue opening doors for students.We need to let our young people know, "You can do it!We can help!"
Until next time,
La Toya Sykes, Director
Outreach and Access Awareness
Click a link below to view past Opening Doors articles.
