(Kelley Thompson is a Program Specialist in FLOC’s Scholars Program.)

As part of the Scholars curriculum, students participate in activities, discussions and field trips that encourage them to think about their futures. Through Scholars programming all Scholars students, from 6th graders to postsecondary students, reflect on their present successes, achievements and choices and how these things impact their future directions. They share their dreams with each other and gain valuable insights from their peers and from FLOC staff about how to pursue these dreams. In their own words, here are some of the students’ dreams:

• I will work at Microsoft as a designer for video game graphics.
• My plans are to own my own business and own a go-go club. The way that I would come by this is to go to Clark University in Atlanta to obtain a degree in business management.
• I want to be a doctor or even a lawyer.
• I want to be a college graduate.
• I want to go to places I’ve never been before.
• I want to be a pediatrician and I want to serve the president.
• I want to go to Princeton, study abroad and get my Bachelors, Masters, and PhD.
• I want to make new types of technology, including making a robot/cybang.
• I want to model in New York, Paris, Milan, and Tokyo.
• I will enlist in the Air Force as an officer. I want to major in a technical degree. I want to help fly unmanned Air Crafts to save the lives of those pilots who could have lost their lives by being shot down or by a malfunction of the plane.
• After finishing college, I am hoping to become a successful businessman and open up my own architectural firm.
• I would love to travel around the world.
• I want to start an organization to help poor/ low income people find a way to get on their feet to start a new life.
• I would want world peace because without it, we would be in a worse situation. We probably would be in another world war: with peace we can stop the wars.
• I want to get straight As in school because I want to be somebody in life. And I want to go to college.
• I am going to Africa to build a school for the children.
• I plan to go to Harvard University, majoring in law and minoring in journalism. I want to become an attorney and I want to study family and criminal law.
• I want to become the ambassador to the Dominican Republic or Nicaragua.
• I want to prove to the people that looked down on me that I am someone in this world. I want to show them that even someone like me can do it and so can others.
• I want to follow in my father’s footsteps.
• I would like to be someone who can change the world. I would like to change the world because I do not like to see people by the wayside trying to make a living. So I would like to educate them so they would be able to take care of themselves.
• I want to have a degree in Criminal Justice. I want to reduce the percentage of crime in the community I live in.
• I want to liberate and unite Latin America.
• I want to go to MIT to study aerospace engineering and chemistry.
• I want to own my own auto shop.

The Scholars Program encourages thoughtful dialogue about creating, developing and pursuing these dreams. Further, it provides opportunities to explore many aspects of these dreams. To this end, high school juniors in the Scholars program went on a week-long college tour last week. They visited a wide variety of colleges and universities, including North Carolina A & T, University of North Carolina Greensboro, University of Georgia, Clark-Atlanta University, Georgia State, Oglethorp University and Virginia Commonwealth University. FLOC Post-secondary Scholar Tierra King attends Virginia Commonwealth and gave the students a tour.

They spoke to students, admissions officers and other school officials. They explored campuses and different types of campus life. They learned more about what they want in their higher education institutions and what it will take to get there. And, importantly, they explored these things together, thereby cementing a powerful and valuable bond they share with each other.

Every day, Scholars students demonstrate that they are making the connections, building the skills and exploring the passions that help them pursue their dreams.

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