YouCanGo! Website Inspires Students To Look Beyond Barriers
Dec. 2011
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YouCanGo!™, a new College Board program, aims to dispel common misconceptions about the difficulties of going to college and to help students who are uncertain build the confidence to try.
On the site — youcango.collegeboard.org — students and their families can see short video interviews with real college students who explain how they overcame some of these common barriers to higher education.
One student discusses cost, another student talks about grades and another speaks about feeling overwhelmed as the first person in his family to attend college. The personal anecdotes offer hope and inspiration to students who have misgivings about their future beyond high school.
In addition to the video stories, the YouCanGo! site offers links to help students find colleges nearby and resources to help them understand their next steps toward applying for admission and financial aid.
Word is spreading in many ways across the region. In Connecticut, dozens of teachers wore YouCanGo! T-shirts on PSAT/NMSQT® testing day. Also, the Upward Bound program at the University of Maine at Farmington has developed a slideshow with students promoting YouCanGo! and the message that college is possible.
Sandra Wyman, a college access specialist at Spruce Mountain High School in Livermore Falls, Maine, said her students appreciate seeing the types of scholarships that they may be eligible for. “I work with first-generation college-going and low-income students to help them understand the whole process. I think students are finding that the process is sometimes simpler than they expected, and to see the college search tool and the financial resources is encouraging to them.”
On the YouCanGo! website, all students have an opportunity to add their own inspiring stories and share a pledge on social media about why, when and where they will be going to college. More than 2,800 students have shared their pledges, adding their voices to a message of possibility.
Wyman takes students on tours of community colleges, state universities and a private college in the area. She is also helping students create their own process to enable them to see where their Spruce Mountain peers are applying and enrolling.
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