Each year the First Graduate® high school program hosts the All Access Admissions Fair. What use to be a program that took place in our small office, has evolved to a large resource event for students and families held at a partner school. The goal for this year’s fair was to find new ways to engage our students, while providing helpful information to our families in attendance. In addition to the 20 colleges that were present, we invited scholarship organizations and held small workshops that provided guidance when considering the best schools. Our students and families learned about the college systems, how to find their best fit, and “imposter syndrome.”
Our vision for this year’s fair was to really tune in to the access part of it. There are many factors to consider when applying to college, the school, majors, environment, but also money and fitting it. We wanted students and their families to walk away with new tools to decide what college would be best for the student. With the variety of colleges present (public, private, in-state/out-of-state, liberal arts, women’s, etc.) and the other community partners that spoke to our families, like Maisin Scholars and 10,000 Degrees, there was a space of choice and empowerment created, which is exactly what we seek to provide to all of our first generation scholars!
