What
to Know Before You Go Launch Year
Academic Talent Search’s purpose is to
motivate and aid middle and high school students in attending a four-year
institution, but how do we stay connected with our alumni? This year we launched our first
official alumni reunion on July 29th at Sonoma State University. The
idea came about when Student Assistant, Maria Nolasco, thought about having a
last minute crash course session for all first time freshmen about what they
need to know before hitting the college road. Having an alumni student panel seemed
ideal so that our new high school grads could hear firsthand from other ATS
alumni about what their college experience has been like thus far, so the planning
for the alumni reunion began.
New
strategies to keep connected with alumni have been implemented including
creating an ATS’ Instagram page, @academictalentsearch,
surveys for alumni participation in future events, and special announcement emails.
We were very happy with the positive feedback we received from our alumni and
we would love to see even more of our alumni as possible at future events.
The day of
What to Know Before You Go arrived and the whole ATS team was on deck. The
morning session included a “fill in the gaps” info session that helped answer
any last minute questions that in-coming college
freshmen had. Advisor Vanessa Bascherini from the Academic Advising for Undeclared Students department at SSU gave the students a presentation about finding helpful resources on campus.
After
our college bound students had their last minute college crash course session
everyone headed over to the Cooperage for the Alumni Lunch Reception. As the senior alumni arrived they quickly found their name badges then grabbed a hamburger,
chips, and drink for lunch. To break the ice students ran around the room
trying to find out who has ridden a hot air balloon or has ever met a celebrity
as part of their People Bingo game. Once everyone felt comfortable
around each other we headed into the alumni Q&A session where we found out
how the transition from high school student to college student went for our senior
alumni. We also explored what makes their schools unique, how they handled homesickness and how they decided what they were
going to study. All alumni then stuck around after the panel
session to chat amongst themselves and take pictures at our college bound themed photo booth area. First-time freshmen asked graduates
from their schools where the best place to eat is, which professors to avoid,
and more throughout the afternoon. New connections were made and old ones were
reinforced. We are looking forward to more future alumni events!
