Preview of Article:
College for All?
Illustrator: PjBF
…When we first began the Youth Leadership Practicum
The students didn’t have a clue
On applying, paying, finding the right college
And who would help them through.
That’s why we put this book together for you.
It’s true that applying for college itself is a pain.
It drives you insane
Kills most of the blood cells in your brain.
I want students to use this guide
That was gathered from college students, my peers and I
To help them apply…
It was with this poem that one of the Youth Leaders opened up the final presentation for the Institute for Urban Education’s (IUE) Youth Leadership Practicum, funded by Bank of America and the Teagle Foundation and housed at Eugene Lang College. Speaking to an audience that included the college students who co-facilitated the program, representatives from their high schools, and the Director of Admissions of Eugene Lang College, the Youth Leaders shared what they had learned throughout their eight sessions exploring the college search and application process. These eight students — four male and four female, black and Latino, mostly juniors in high school, and all the first in their families to pursue a college degree — came together to ask, and answer, their own questions about college. The participants, all of whom were already taking leadership roles within their own schools to help other students to see college as an option for themselves, applied for this opportunity to both further their understanding of the college process and earn two college credits upon completion.
