Discovery Day XIII
Before working with the Center for Community Engagement, I didn't know that an event like Discovery Day happened at Sonoma State. Growing up in a low-income neighborhood in San Francisco, I was involved in many non-profit and schools that led initiatives to expose students to a college environment. Being able to help with an event like this at my college campus was very fulfilling, especially since I can personally attest to how beneficial they are.
In preparation for Discovery Day, I was told to read the previous blog posts from years past. I decided to not read these blogs so that I could make my own conclusions about the event for this blog.
The most rewarding part of the day would have to be listening to what everyone took away from this day-long event. After lunch, I took the opportunity to ask what the high school and college students what they had taken away/learned from this event. I asked one of the RCP students, Sesen Tewelde, what she had learned and responded with: "I learned that it doesn't matter what college you go to. I wanted to go to Cal or Stanford but it doesn't matter [what college you go to] as long as you are learning and earning your degree." I was shocked with this response as it comes from a level of maturity that most college students don't have.
Another RCP student, Ginger Lewallen, said that "Coming to SSU made it a lot more clear that I wanted to go to college. Discovery Day goes really in depth about SSU and all of the resources." These responses are fantastic and I can attest to the benefits of bringing high school students to college campuses, especially when they get to spend time with college students.
I asked the Sonoma State students the same question and freshman Daniella Burnett responded with: "They have big dreams and goals about college." and went on to add, "I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. The kids were really fun and interactive. There was a lot of snapchatting so we were able to share what we were doing simultaneously and that connects back to media studies."
Thank you SSU Outreach team for the student panel. The CCE would also like to thank Karen Moranski and Andre Bailey for the motivational speeches. And thank you Roseland Collegiate Prep for providing another fantastic group of students this year for Discovery Day!