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Welcome Back!
Melissa Galloway-Medsker has been a mentor for two quarters at Chief Sealth High School. She is also Dream Project’s blog editor and a college and career readiness assistant at Denny Middle School.
Getting Ready for a New Year in the Dream Project!
As a beautiful summer break in Seattle comes to a close, we couldn't be more excited to start the Fall Quarter with new Dream Project mentees and mentors. Serving 16 high schools in Seattle's King County, our mission is to assist low-income and first-generation high school students in attaining higher education while raising awareness among university students about the issues of educational opportunity and social mobility.
Year in Review
Last year, Dream Project completed its second year as a partner in the Road Map to College initiative, working with other organizations to host events like College Application Completion and FAFSA Completion. These events were highly successful, exceeding our goal of 1,500 participating students.
With a new school year comes more great events and more opportunities to support even more students. But let’s take a look at the past year and all of our events!
In the fall, we brought over 500 mentees to Admissions Workshop Weekend (AWW). This past year we were able to have food trucks and inspirational guest speakers. A number of students found AWW to be extremely helpful. One of the students who attended said:
I liked that it was free admission, very open, and that there were a ton of resources available. The tutors were very nice and expressed honest opinions about my writing. It definitely helped me a lot to received constructive criticism on my essays...I would definitely promote it to students who need help with college admissions in the future.
In the winter, we had Scholarship Saturday, previously known as Scholarship Workshop Weekend. This one-day event provided over 200 students with the opportunity to complete their FAFSA and apply for scholarships. And of course, in the spring we had Spring BBQ, which brought more than 700 high school juniors to the UW campus. They were able to get a tour of campus, sit in on a mock lecture and listen to various guest speakers over lunch. For many of the students we work with, this was their first visit to a college campus and a time for them to start thinking about post-high school plans. Also in the spring we awarded 21 Dream Scholars the “Live the Dream” Scholarship.
These events, along with weekly high school visits, helped to create an amazing year!
A Look Ahead at Fall Quarter
During the first quarter of the year, Dream Project mentors learn how to help students through the college application process and then apply what they learn in their weekly high school visits to help seniors choose several choices that fit their interests and goals. Mentors help with writing strong personal statements and other essays that may be included in a particular application.
Reflecting on My Time in the Dream Project So Far
Working in the Dream Project for almost a year now, I can easily see that it has been one of the most rewarding commitments I have made in my undergraduate experience at the UW. The high school students I worked with last year are now off to college themselves this year, and I can't wait to hear about what they do in their future. As a new year begins, I am looking forward to meeting and working with a new group of mentees and seeing everyone in the Dream Project staff again. If you have any questions about the Dream Project, come by our office in Mary Gates Hall in room 274! We love to share our experiences and to help find ways to get other students involved.
Here’s to a great year and we hope to see you around!
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