This Spring semester, TRIO took a group of 9 students representing all school years and varied majors to Atlanta, Georgia to discover possible paths as a graduate school student during the Spring Break.
We visited Emory University, Georgia Tech, and Georgia State University along with their various schools of business, law, social sciences, biomedical, and computer science. Our students attended presentations held by students, faculty, and staff and had opportunities to tour the university buildings and ask questions about the programs offered. After our daily visits, we explored parts of Atlanta to get a feel of what life would be like in the city.
Our graduate school visits are part of an initiative to encourage our students to apply and enroll to higher educational degree programs with sufficient knowledge and tools to make informed decisions as to how they want to approach their careers after graduation.
Graduate school visits are part of what the TRIO programs do around the nation. This is to encourage low-income, first-generation, and/or students with disabilities to reach for higher degree attainment to further their education and career outcomes. Along with the TRIO Student Support Services, other TRIO programs such as Upward Bound and the McNair Scholars Program around the nation also coordinate graduate school visits to encourage admission and enrollment. Our goal is to expose our students to graduate school life in different parts of the nation in order to give them a feel of what their life could look like and learn what are some things they find important in a college program.
“Whether or not you reach your goals in life depends entirely on how well you prepare for them and how badly you want them. . . .. You’re eagles! Stretch your wings and fly to the sky.”
-Ronald E. McNair