Although it was a three hour trip they knew it was worth it. Fifty Atholton students attended a college tour on May 1st to learn more about life in college. The trip was run by Mr. Sturdivant, Atholton’s BSAP Liason, and lasted twelve hours, from 8 AM to 8 PM.
Students visited three different schools: Virginia State University Fieldtrip and Virginia Union University Fieldtrip, both HBCUs(historically black colleges and universities) and Virginia Commonwealth. The field trip was quite exciting, sparking a desire to learn after high school for the students.
“I’m trying to find a college nearby my family so I can go and still have family support,” said Mia Rodriguez, a junior who attended the trip. Planning for life outside of high school is important, but a lot of people do not know where to start.
However, a perfect start would be to figure out a list of colleges you would like to attend. This is the first time Atholton has done the college tours, and because of that many students interests peaked.
“It was something that I was interested in because I just have never gotten that experience, and also I’m getting to my later years of highschool and I wanna know what I’ll end up getting into one day.”
said Gianna Sanders, a sophomore who had also attended the trip.
Each school was founded in the late 1800s. In order of oldestto newest schools, Virginia Commonwealth was founded in 1838by two existing institutions merging, Virginia Union in 1865 by The American Baptist Home Mission Society, and finally Virginia State in 1882 by William Mahone. All fifty students were able to see the beautiful structures of the universitites, each building with its own interesting layout.
Both Virginia Commonwealth and Virginia State University Fieldtrip being the usual red brick building, Virginia Union has white bricks, a beautiful contrast. Virginia Union seemed to be a favorite with the Atholton students.
“It was just very welcoming, very homey feeling. When we walked through the doors we had a lot of fun with them. We communicated and vibed with them more than anybody else in the other schools that we visited,” said Sanders.
Virginia Union seemed like it was the most liked because, along with other things, it made everyone who was visiting feel welcome to the foreign experience of the school grounds.
“I was very interested in the last one, it was the HBCU, it’s called Virginia Union University Fieldtrip. Sadly I did not pick any of them because they did not have any of my majors, but it was so good, I still recommend for everybody,” said Rodriguez.
She is planning to get a Veterinarian Medicine degree and a Biological degree but plans to attend community college for a year to complete her required classes.
Growing up and getting out into the world is a scary thing, but to make it a bit less of a challenge the best thing to do is plan whether you decide to go to a college nearby, a college out of state, or not go to college at all it’s always a good idea to have opirions in front of you. The future is closer than you think; the future is always tomorrow, so take a hold of yours.