On Saturday, about 35 seniors from six area high school were at Fort Lewis College getting help with a different kind of homework. Their assignment: writing their ticket to a higher education.
Part of the college’s TRIO Scholarship Bootcamp, students met with faculty, tutors, community volunteers and others in workshops designed to help them write essays for grant applications, scholarships and college admissions. In short, using words to gain to an opportunity of a lifetime.
The campus buzzed around the Reed Library and Student Union. Wendy Allsbrook Javier, director of Talent Search, a federally funded TRIO program at FLC, said the effort has roots in Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. Upward Bound – another part of TRIO – was also part of Saturday’s workshop.
“These are potential first-generation college students, and/or they have large financial obstacles,” she said.
Several students present Saturday handle difficult circumstances that would test anyone’s resolve, Allsbrook Javier said.
“A good number of them juggle things that would make an adult faint,” she said. “Working 30 hours a week, while earning high grades and test scores, and they have significant family responsibilities. That’s a theme we see running through this group of kids. They’re incredibly inspiring.”
Once on campus, students go through a series of workshops and on-on-one meetings with faculty and tutors, many from the FLC Writing Center. Some may have a rough draft in hand, others may struggle with how to simply begin.
They participate in mock interviews, so they’ll be familiar when the time comes.
They all have a aspirations to reach for their educational dreams, and TRIO offers a chance to make them come true.
Alex Thompson, a senior psychology major at FLC, has been lending his writing skills to the camp for three years. He said he finds a fulfillment with the younger students.
“They are trying to set their future in place,” he said. “You’re working with them in a way that is going to change their lives. I get to help in that process.”
Chemistry major and writing tutor Checkers Marshall said she’s impressed by the purposefulness of the high school students she worked with.
“Its so cool to talk about what they want to do with their future – and not just for themselves, but for their communities,” Marshall said.
A common hurdle in the writing and application process, students may struggle with expressing who they are and why they are a good candidate for a scholarship or grant.
“They’re challenged by telling their story,” Writing Center Director Michelle Bonanno said. “They have to go for something really unique.”
The camp offers a place for students to do that, Allsbrook Javier said. And putting it on the screen is something not all the kids have the luxury of doing – many don’t have access to working computers and printers.
Diego Martinez, a senior at Durango High School, said he likes geology. But writing about himself is awkward.
“I have a hard time getting my ideas into a physical form,” he said. “Today helped me connect those ideas. I need to talk about who I am and who I’m trying to be.”
bmathis@durangoherald.com
