Fifth-graders and sixth-graders on St. Croix got a chance to skip ahead eight years and find out what it’s like to be a college freshman on Wednesday at the Shadowing our Students: Planting the Seed event at the University of the Virgin Islands.
“They experience what freshmen experience their first day of school,” explained Raydiance Watts-Clarke, a senior majoring in education who helped organize the event. “Registering for classes and the mishaps of a class being closed out.”
When the young students arrived they were given the opportunity to attend one of six courses: Intro to English, Career Choices at UVI, Intro to Computers, My Future My Way, Leadership Skills and Intro to Stepping.
Watts-Clarke explained that the day’s activity was an offshoot of a similar program held in the spring that targets high school seniors and juniors.
Two years ago, the UVI Student Government Association, which hosts the event, decided to target younger students as well as a way of “planting a seed.”
Watts-Clarke said she hoped the children would get a taste for both the academic and social sides of college and make it a part of their long-term goals.
“Some students wait exactly until their senior year to start thinking about college,” she said. “We’re trying to encourage them to start thinking before.”
After the classes, the students listened to a keynote speech from Junior Garcia, a UVI student who is also an active duty member of the V.I. National Guard and the president and founder of Kappa Gamma fraternity.
They then simulated a graduation ceremony where each student received a UVI pin.
During the day, teachers challenged the students not just to commit to one day going to college, but to think hard about what type of college experience they would want.
In her “My Future My Way” class, Denise Lake asked her students to think about details like size, location, academic programs, social activities and cost.
Were small class sizes important to them, she asked. What about extracurricular activities? Did they want to join a fraternity or sorority? And what about the dreaded out-of-state tuition fees? How much would they be willing to pay?
Lake shared her own experience of leaving the Virgin Islands to attend Michigan State University, which at that time had 50,000 students. She said it took some time to adjust to living on a campus that had as many students as St. Croix has people, but it wasn’t nearly as hard as getting used to the weather.
“I thought, ‘how cold could cold be?’” she said. “I didn’t have a clue.”
Doreen Davis, a fifth-grade teacher from Church of God Holiness Academy, said she didn’t think it was too early for her students to start asking themselves these questions.
“It’s a fine time for them to start thinking about what they would like to do in the future, knowing that at some point they might change their mind, but at least they’re gearing up towards a college education,” she said.
Davis said that she has always been a strong advocate for higher education and pushed her students toward going to college. She was happy that UVI students were also taking up that message.
“I appreciate what these guys are doing,” she said. “Planting seeds? I think they are planting a good seed and it will bring forth fruits.”
