By Camay Hall
LifeAtStart.com reporter
I am in a program called Upward Bound that is with Bowling Green State University. I have been in the program for two years now, and it has been amazing. I got into this program because my grandma’s landlord, Ms. Caldwell, took an interest in me. She’s a very intelligent, self made woman. She wants me to become more than what I am surrounded by and grew up around. I am so grateful to be in this program, and to have someone caring about my education as much as I do.
Every Wednesday I go to Scott High School to attend my class, called Academic Assist. Not only do they help my classmates and I with our school work, they also take us to events and college tours. They prepare us for college, going into the workforce, and how to be model citizens. Last week, they picked 10 of us to go to a Youth Conference. The Youth Conference was held at Maumee Bay Lodge. We were there because they wanted to inspire the youth more. The conference had students from all of the Upward Bounds across Ohio. There were roughly 300 students there. All of us had these sessions where they would talk about college and finances. In our last session, we heard from a motivational speaker. After all of the hard work we did, they let us throw a party for celebration. That’s one of the dozen amazing events I have been to.
Another event was when they took us to a Toledo Walleye game. This was my first hockey game I went to and I had a great time. I grew closer with my classmates and watched our hockey team lose.
Overall, the program is very helpful. They will make college a little bit easier for me. As a sophomore, they already have me looking at college, and applying for scholarships. Like I said, I am grateful to be in Upward Bound, I would be lost without them.