What was my CAS project?
For my CAS project, I initiated a college help seminar at my local library in the middle of senior year. This college seminar program at the Bedford Public Library provided an opportunity for determined junior high/ high school students to listen closely to college professionals. This helped enhance their knowledge of how various colleges operate and ease the intimidation that many students experience for their upcoming college application process. In addition, this project serves to promote a community of inquiry in which students are encouraged to ask questions or express their thoughts towards college experts and college students. Students were also able to interact and share ideas in this one-month learning process filled with presentations and Q&As.
What was my role?
My role in this project was to promote the seminars amongst students in the district. To make this a successful project, our team went through a series of steps. It started with the monthly meetings and then continued with our own individual work time.
Through each monthly meeting, we discussed our plan of action and formulated ideas for every session of the seminar. We each had a task to invite a college professional/student to improve each session’s quality. We wrote down useful links to give out as brochures as a guide and carefully schedule each session. On the day of the session, we set up chairs and tables for guest speakers, displayed the Powerpoint that we organised, and allowed the guest speakers to share their perspectives with the parents and students.
How did this project help me?
For the first time, I engaged in a roundtable discussion with a small group of students and college professionals. The seminar has encouraged me to expand my college list and maybe even look beyond Texas schools. This was such a rewarding experience as I have gained so much knowledge on how to approach the application, essays, and money.
• Imogen’s general overview of CAS is here
• Tyus’ tips on how to do CAS during a pandemic is here