Underclassmen enjoy the opportunity to experience a day in the shoes of a college student; this is why UMKC sponsors a Youth Day every year on its campus.

   Sophomores and juniors were invited on February 26, but only 20 students were able to participate because there are over 300 schools attending.

   Students learned about the college admission process, activities and diversity training, and personal relationships.

   “They will go to a variety of workshops and hopefully they will learn college is possible,” counselor Brenda Wiederholt said. “There are options out there that they can explore and maybe they will learn something about an option they didn’t know about before.”

   The workshops gave students an eye opening experience to a day in college.

   “They introduced us to what the college was like, toured the campus, did activities like paperwork things and it felt like the first day of college,” junior Donnie Smith said.

   Along with workshops, the students learned statistics of ACT and SAT scores as well as learning about opportunities past high school.

   “It was mostly about the percentage of African Americans who go to college and trying to increase it,” Barker said. “ACT and SAT scores for African Americans were really low; lower than what they should be. They basically asked us what would help raise it.”

   The college students on campus help show LHS students they can overcome the odds of being a minority.

   “My favorite part was seeing many of the African Americans who started out in a bad local neighborhood and got into college with a high ACT,” Barker said.

   The atmosphere and glimpse into college life brings encouragement to LHS.

   “The energy is amazing throughout the event,” Wiederholt said. “The college students that are part of organizing the day and throughout the day are just so energized and positive which just feeds into our students.”

   Students believe that it will help enlighten them on college planning.

   “I think it will be beneficial for where I want to go and helping decide where I want to go in the future,” sophomore Hannah Spell said.

   This has helped shape students mindsets of planning for college and has impacted the process.

   “It has helped mostly with the networking skills, meaning interacting with different people, exchanging information and getting further in your life or career based on just knowing other people,” junior Janai Simpson said. “I now talk to a lot more college coaches, my teachers, my parents, friends and opened up way more scholarship opportunities for me.”

   Students who have gone believe it’s an opportunity that should be taken if one is able to attend.

   “It has taught me to study more, to take high school seriously and to really think about college choices and what colleges expect of you,” Barker said.