“I want to let them know an inside perspective of college, not just the classes but know the people living here on campus. I want to show them at SSU the departments they have, but also what majors SSU has to offer,” says Ashley, an SSU student who is excited for the high school students who were coming to the campus.
Shadow Day provided an opportunity for eleventh-grade students from Roseland University Prep (RUP) to be a college student for a day by shadowing a student from COMS 160A or CALS 165. The high school students had a chance to experience what a typical day as a college student is like while interacting with a current SSU student. SSU students practice leadership skills, communication skills, and work with younger students who are almost 100% Latinx.
“The first-year students had the opportunity to take ownership over their role as college students and share their knowledge about their college admissions experience and college life with the students who shadowed them. Additionally, they were able to learn more about the surrounding community and themselves by engaging with local high school students,” said Dr. Emily Acosta Lewis, the faculty member for COMS 160A.
Related: Read About Past Shadow Days
Munsay, a junior at RUP says, “I hope to understand how college works and what to do. I am most excited to see how the professors are because this (SSU) is one of my options for college.”
Throughout the day, the students had a chance to go to classes, meet professors, visit the Maker Space in the Library, and eat lunch in the Kitchens. RUP students also had a chance to ask students any questions they had about the college experience. The high-school students asked about opportunities to get involved with clubs, sports, and internships and what the transition from high school is like.
Provost Lisa Vollendorf welcomed the students to Sonoma State and showed her excitement during her speech, “I am so proud to be here today...my goal is to help Latinos and other students succeed in California.” I was very proud to see how my university cares about its students and also see the diversity that is on campus.
I was amazed at how much pride the SSU students have in their campus and how much they enjoyed sharing it with the high school students. Mia Garcia from COMS 160A says after Shadow Day, “Giving a tour with both Sergio and Bryan gave me a flashback to when I was looking and getting ready for college. They reminded me why I wanted to go to a university in the first place.” She learned how showing students what college is like, can help students figure out where to go in the future.
Lib Guiterrez who goes to RUP says, “I liked it a lot, it was so much fun. I enjoyed how each student individually showed us around and showed their own experience with college life.”