With an increasingly competitive workforce, a college education is no longer just something that looks good on a résumé; it is essential.
Gateway to College, a program that seeks to give at-risk high school students the chance to finish high school and earn college credit that started at this college at the beginning of the fall semester, gives students the opportunity to accomplish something that may have seemed unattainable before.
Director Nancy Cobb said students not receiving high school diplomas translates to a decrease in earning power, which then affects the economy as a whole.
Those citizens who didn't complete high school are likely not to have the spending power that other people have, thus further hurting the economy, she said.
Many students in the program said they are working on attaining a better future for themselves.
Ivan Edwards, 17, said his time at Reagan High School wasn't working for him.
"In high school, I just figured I'd never go to college, so I never tried," he said.
Edwards' father, however, wanted him to attend college, which prompted his father to search for an alternative.
Bianca Antu, 17, said her family also motivated her to find a way to finish high school because she was about to drop out of Madison High School.
She said she wanted to do more with her life than drop out of school and do nothing with her life.
Edwards said he is hoping that Gateway to College will turn his life around. "With this, I mean, I'm in college now, and this was what I wanted to do, because everybody wants to make money, and I knew that if I couldn't go to college, I wouldn't make money," he said.
Erika Almanzar, 17, said her experience at MacArthur High School was not productive, and she became discouraged with high school.
"I just didn't really care for doing the work, and even when I tried to do the work, it was just hard for me," she said.
The program has changed this for her, she said. The brochure for Gateway to College points out that many students drop out of high school for different reasons, including academic problems, Edwards and Almanzar said.
Maria Martin, 18, said, she enjoyed the classes and the work, but socially, she did not feel confident.
"I just didn't have the social skills to make friends, so when I got to school every day, I didn't have the motivation that everyone else had to show up and see their friends," she said.
Stephanie Magolios, 18, said she would move often, causing her to fall behind. These problems were compounded when her sister died, she said.
Being on a college campus brings with it a level of maturity, and the petty problems of high school are not present, Almanzar said.
Martin said cliques are far too important in high school.
She said the way people look has not been an issue with her, and students in the program are very diverse, not falling in any one group, stereotype or clique.
"You don't get judged here, which is a big thing," Natasha Cardenas, 20, said, agreeing that the experience of being on a college campus is encouraging.
The program's ultimate goal is to shape a future for the students, Cobb and teachers in the programs said.
Receiving a high school diploma while earning college credit gets them that much further to a degree and a fulfilling career.
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