This year the Scholars program is implementing a new advising model to ensure that all students are prepared for middle school, high school, college and beyond. Students meet with an advisor four times a year and submit their transcript and quarterly grades to inform these conversations.
As a Scholars Advisor, I have had several inspiring experiences speaking with the wonderful students during advising sessions. One specific experience was with an 11th grade high school student. While we were talking and looking at her transcript, I started to realize that this student was not aware of her true academic potential and of all the wonderful opportunities college would allow her.
I spoke with her about several options that she could pursue based on her well-rounded academic, extracurricular, and community service experiences. She never knew that there were actually college degrees that would enable her to focus dually on her love for English literature and language as well as her fascination with business.
When I brought up the idea of a business and liberal arts degree program possibility, her face lit up. The prospect of college became doubly as exciting for her. We talked about how college would enable her to study whatever she wanted, while also allowing her to continue with her love for dance and cheerleading. At the end of our meeting, I realized how important FLOC can be in the process of students identifying and unlocking their full potential.
(Tami Burger is a Scholars Social Work Intern at FLOC).
