The Answer - A blog about Education, Preparation, and Commitment.

OOOOOklahoma, where YES Prep students visit on Spring College Tours

March 16, 2010 by Donald Kamentz

We believe that it isn’t enough just to get students into college, but to ensure that students persist to college graduation. A key element to achieve that goal is finding colleges that truly fit the needs of our students. Beginning in the sixth grade, we take spring college tours that first create the mindset around college access and secondly allow students to experience many college and university environments so they will be better informed when the time comes to apply and matriculate. 

In the second week of March 2010, the 10^th grade students at YES Prep Southwest toured the colleges of North Texas and Oklahoma. Below is a compilation of their experiences:

10^th grade social studies teacher, Zach Verriden: "I had the most amazing opportunity to spend a week touring colleges in north Texas and Oklahoma with the 10^th graders from YES Prep Southwest and I find myself wanting to go back to college! At YES Prep, students spend one week of the school year on a “spring trip” where they get exposure to everything we work for every single day: college." 

This year, we visited TCU, Austin College, Tulsa, Oklahoma University, Midwestern State and SMU. We spent so much time on the road, in the classroom, and the cities that we visited. We asked some of our students to reflect on the many things that they experienced during the week. After reading through some of these reflections, I realize that our students learned so much more than we were aiming for…

“Hanging with College Students at OU” from Micaela Green

What set the Oklahoma experience apart from any other school that we visited was the fact that this school was probably exactly what I didn’t want: 40,000 student. Yet, it was my favorite college on the trip!  I feel a lot of it has to do with the interactions that I had with the college students and how they were so honest and so real.  For example, Jordan and his friends told us about how they all “had to really stay on top of their work so that they could have fun during Homecoming because no one wants to miss out on that.” I could relate to this because during basketball season, I find myself working really hard so that I can participate in all the games we have. We chatted, we laughed, we joked, and we shared. It was a great experience and that’s what made me enjoy OU.  I will forever be grateful for this experience.

“Hooray for the Mustangs!” from Erica La Saint

On Thursday, we visited Midwestern State University and were able to participate in some enjoyable activities with the students. Three of our YES Prep Southwest Maverick basketball boys matched up against MSU’s basketball team in a practice game to see which team could make the most shots. Before the game even began, they all were challenging each other on who could make the most and best shots! It just so happened that our boys came out victorious, which was such an achievement. It was such an honor to be able to share MSU’s basketball team’s accomplishment and being welcomed into their school’s pep rally. This was just an all-around good experience that helped me to realize that college isn’t so intimidating and that I will make it in my college career.

"Student Panel at The University of Tulsa" from Devann Shelby

On Wednesday, we visited The University of Tulsa. It is a private Liberal Arts school in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with less than 3,000 students. TU offers many programs and organizations for students. Since they were really interested in what our school was doing, they provided a panel for us. During this time, questions were asked and the students at TU answered them truthfully. It was really interesting to hear what they had to say because they were giving us advice for our future. The facilitator asked, “What was your hardest transition?” They all said that we have to manage our time because there is nobody there telling us when and where to do our work. We have to learn to be responsible and be mature adults in college.

“Roommates/Hotel Relax Time” from Kemi Animashaun

Every night, after a long day of going of different colleges, we would check into the hotel and go to our friends’ room. Devann, Quinsha, and I decided to get our toes done and wear matching sandals. Quinsha and I wore matching college shirts. I was assigned roommates that I did not expect to talk to at all, but we talked to each other every day and got to know each other in a new way.  I have learned things from my roommates that made me a better person.

“Accepting the Challenge” from Keyaira Block

On Wednesday, we traveled to Tulsa, OK. We arrived at The University of Tulsa, had a brief info-session, and split into groups. My group went to the communication building where we learned a lot about personal relations and international studies. After the speaker realized that most of the group was interested in pre-med or engineering, the conversation switched gears.

Soon we were talking about AP entrance exams, CLEP tests, and concurrent classes, all of which I knew little about. By trying at least one of things above you can shorten your time in college, save thousands of dollars, and be better prepared for college. Even if you don’t pass the AP exam, colleges love students that challenge themselves. From this one specific experience on the Spring Trip, I have learned things that will make my life easier and more successful.

“Van Discussions” from Willis Sanders

Did you really think that diversity is important in college? Well, if you didn’t you are wrong because it really is. We left the charter bus to ride in the van and we talked in small groups about how diversity had an effect on the colleges we traveled to. The more people of different ethnicities and races there are then the more diverse the college is. This wasn’t just any ordinary van discussion. We discussed what we didn’t like about the colleges. We also had discussions about what we were looking for in the college.

“OU!” from Quinshay Burnett

The University of Oklahoma is extremely diverse and well-known. The campus was filled with life and excitement. It is located in Norman, Oklahoma, and has one of the best communication programs in the United States. Many of the graduates were placed in careers such as CNN broadcasters or even D.C. public relations consultants. I was amazed at how well OU can produce and prepare future broadcasters. When hearing about the internships and job opportunities after college, it pushes my decision in a college towards OU. The school, staff, and even the food increased my likelihood of choosing OU as my dream college!

--
1 Comments
leave a comment