On a surprisingly cold spring day, 22 Brown Middle School females and their chaperones stepped onto Georgia Tech’s campus for a visit. While the drive only took them 12 minutes, Georgia Tech was a place they had never been before even though the majority of them have lived close by their entire lives. Part of a larger mission the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts has to expose more local Atlanta Public Schools students to the possibility of attending Georgia Tech for college, this was the third time the Westside Communities Alliance has hosted such an OurGirls event. In previous years, Sylvan and Kennedy middle schools also attended.
This year, the girls, escorted by current Georgia Tech students that served as volunteers, got a unique view of the campus. They stopped by the Clough Undergraduate Learning Center (CULC) to see the Urban Honey Bee Project led by Dr. Jennifer Leavey and toured the Invention Studio at the Manufacturing Related Disciplines Complex (MRDC) to see the 3D printer. They also got to see a residence hall for the first time. The photo scavenger hunt took them to the water slide, a dining hall, the radio station, and several popular student hang-out spots on campus.
Catered lunch took place overlooking Historic Grant Field at Bobby Dodd Stadium in the Student Success Center. They heard from current senior and Public Policy major, Katharine Mitchell about self-identity and maneuvering through college as a woman of color. Andre Dickens, Assistant Director of the Office of Minority Educational Development, spoke about the resources available as a minority student at Tech, including unlimited tutoring and new activity and social groups. Jade Sims from the Office of Admissions spoke about what it takes to get into college, particularly Georgia Tech, and how to make changes now that can will prepare you to not only get in, but succeed in college.
The students left with swag to remember their trip and the WCA looks forwards to its next group of girls in 2016.
