Chapman provides tours for high school students from underrepresented backgrounds

During the tour, the students got the chance to learn about Chapman’s admissions process, financial aid and extracurricular activities. Graphic by ANGELINA HICKS, editor-in-chief

In order to aid high school students from underrepresented backgrounds with the college application process, the Youth 2 Leaders Education Foundation (Y2LEF) partnered with Chapman University to bring some of their students to campus for a visit.

“The objective of the program was to teach them about the universities, what their admissions processes look like and familiarize themselves with those processes so they can know about them,” Y2LEF Special Projects Coordinator Erick Plata Torres said in an interview with The Panther. “Then, once they enter their senior year, they can apply at least a basic understanding of what they’re going to need in order to apply to the university.”

Y2LEF, a non-profit organization, started in 1994 and strives to help students in Kern County, located between the counties of San Luis Obispo and San Bernardino, in their journey to “attain a higher education at the community college or university of their choice,” as stated in their website’s mission statement.

Gabriela Castaneda, the director of Latinx achievement at Chapman, coordinated with Torres to bring a group of 100 students from the San Joaquin Valley, also known as Central Valley, to tour Chapman’s campus on April 4.

According to Torres, the visit to Chapman consisted of a presentation and a student panel, where attendees could ask questions about the university’s admissions process, financial aid opportunities and extracurricular activities. Attendees also had the opportunity to speak with Castaneda and some other members of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

“It was a presentation for them to get more general information and learn about the university so that they can apply for (it),” Torres said. “And there are other sub-objectives, or what I consider to (be) sub-objectives, like taking them to travel, having some time away from home and living a little bit of that college life experience. But the core purpose of the program was to expose the students to universities so then, they can find interest in these universities to then apply to them.”

This year, the Y2LEF students toured a total of 10 universities in Southern California: Chapman, Loyola Marymount University, University of California, Los Angeles, University of Southern California, California State University, Pomona, California State University, Fullerton, University of California, Irvine, California State University, Northridge, California State University, Long Beach and California State University, Los Angeles.

The tour happened over the course of four days, from April 3 to April 6, during the students’ spring break.

The visiting students were high school freshmen, sophomores and juniors who were interested in learning about the different colleges they could apply for and what they had to do in order to be considered for each schools’ admissions process.

The tour wasn’t just restricted to universities, however. Torres said that the students also visited Knott’s Berry Farm and Long Beach Pier.

“We took them (to these places) just to explore,” Torres said. “The program wasn’t just based on academic education. It was also based on taking them to other places that they probably had never been to.”

The campus tour program is just one of the several programs the organization offers that aims to assist students in their college application journey.

Another program within the organization is the California Cash for College program, in which Y2LEF visits various high schools during the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) filing period between October and March and helps guide students through the process to apply for financial aid. The AmeriCorps program, meanwhile, consists of a team of individuals who assist in areas including academic advising, job searches and resume building, money management and mock interviews.

According to Torres, the students and their parents had a very positive experience with the college tours.

“I received an email from one of the students’ parents, who was very grateful for taking the students to tour not only Chapman University but (also) the other nine universities we took them to within those four days,” Torres said. “The parents were very grateful for creating a spring break educational program for their students while also experiencing fun events and activities.”

Previously, Chapman and Y2LEF partnered in 2020 for a similar campus tour. Torres said he does not know whether he will coordinate next year’s tour, but he noted that whoever does will most likely focus on another region, such as Northern California.

“(This year’s tour) was a lot to manage, working with 100 students (as well as) chaperones and staff. Being the lead coordinator, it’s a lot to manage,” Torres said. “But the rewarding experience, for me, is being able to see the faces of students (who) were able to get that experience of visiting universities that they probably had never heard of before. As long as they’re happy, I’m happy.”