Jade is a member of Lighthouse’s class of 2013. She is resilient and driven. No matter what obstacles Jade faced in high school, she remained focused and determined. Her goals throughout high school were consistent: Attend UC Riverside, study psychology, and go to med school after graduating. Spring semester of her senior year at Lighthouse, however, Jade’s plans changed. She was not accepted into Riverside and due to her financial situation (her financial aid only applied to public colleges and universities), she was unable to afford her back-up option - a private four-year in Southern California. Jade was faced with a dilemma: Where should she go now that her previous options were no longer feasible? Applying the same steely determination she had shown all throughout high school, Jade did her research. She talked to family members and Lighthouse staff to hear their perspectives and college experiences. She looked up transfer rates among public community colleges in the area. After careful contemplation, Jade decided to attend Diablo Valley College - a community college in Pleasant Hill with a high transfer rate and a newly-renovated campus. She took prerequisites for Pre-Med, but quickly learned that she didn’t enjoy the science classes needed to apply to medical school. But she was still interested in Psychology. Fast forward several years: Jade completed her A.A. at Diablo Valley College and transferred to San Francisco State University, where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology in December 2018. She is planning on using her degree and work experience to explore careers in elderly care. Jade’s story illustrates the importance of creating multiple pathways to achieve a goal, reinforcing the idea that pursuing an alternate path does not mean you have to change your original goal or standards for a higher ed degree.
Mateo is a member of Lighthouse’s class of 2016. A self-admitted lover of learning, he acknowledges that he doesn’t share the same interest in traditional structures of schooling. Nevertheless, Mateo enrolled in a nearby state university and, unsure of what he wanted to study while in college, he spent his freshman year taking general education classes. At the end of his first year, however, Mateo was no closer to knowing what he wanted to major in and returned to the Bay Area, where he now works as a supervisor and takes classes at a community college. Faced with pressure to declare a major, he ended up choosing something simply because he didn’t know what else to choose. Even though Mateo is both a student and a full-time worker, he remains committed to earning his Bachelor’s degree and is considering a career in teaching. Mateo’s story reinforces the importance of us helping students navigate potential careers and majors early on in their academic journey, so that students can make informed choices about what to study once they’re in college. It also underscores the need for us to validate students’ interests, build an aspirational ladder over the course of their high school careers, and support students in developing multiple post-secondary pathways.
A member of Lighthouse’s class of 2017, Franky is thoughtful, self-motivated, and pragmatic. Throughout high school, he earned a reputation as someone who was serious about his academics and eager to take advantage of extracurricular opportunities. Franky joined a youth law program early on in his high school career and participated in a semester-long program at a school in upstate Vermont. He applied to a variety of colleges his senior year, hoping to be accepted into his top choice: UC Davis. Unfortunately, Franky didn’t get in. There were other four-year universities, such as San Jose State University, who offered him a spot, but the financial aid wasn’t enough. So, Franky decided to attend College of Alameda, with the intention of saving money and transferring to a four-year college. For the past year and a half, Franky has taken his general education prerequisites in pursuit of a psychology degree. He has worked a series of jobs to earn money, and he recently found out that he was accepted to UC Davis. Franky’s experience reminds us that a student’s financial situation is an important factor (but not a deterrent) to consider when plotting out different pathways to earn a degree.
These students’ stories offer insight into what is working about our program and what we can do differently to better prepare future students for their post-secondary experience. It is clear that we are supporting students to get to college. Regardless of whether a student has struggled academically or grew up knowing that she was going to go to college, our students are being accepted into 4-year colleges and universities. What these stories also teach us, however, is that we can do more to help all students develop long-term goals and devise multiple pathways to get there. There exists an opportunity for us to help students explore their interests, validate their passions, and empower them to see options beyond what they might envision for themselves, especially for students who don’t know what they want to study or what career path they want to take.
Our future work consequently lies in fostering experiences beginning in 9th grade to allow students to identify their personal values and interests, so that they can create goals that will guide a 10-year plan. It is vitally important that we align our college and career work with our graduate profile, so that there is a clear articulation for the skills, mindsets, and behaviors students will cultivate over the course of their high school careers in order to be achieve their post-secondary aspirations.