Alright loyal followers. I'm here to hit you with some heavy stuff. This is a matter of life and death. Well, not really life and death, but it's really frigging important. Not just to me, but to thousands of kids across the country, and kids I work with daily in the summertime. The umbrella program TRIO is on the verge of being defunded, and my program, Johnson State College Upward Bound, is only funded till May of next year if we don't get the funding we need. The 65 kids are about to lose their chance to get to college and make a better life for themselves, who would otherwise not have the chance. I'm going to beseech you to spread the word, help keep education for everyone as a civil right alive in this country, something we need more of, not to cut on a whim to save money. Now I'm going to give you guys some excerpts from the letter I wrote to send to Vermont's representatives in Washington, pleading to help us keep TRIO, and Upward Bound, alive.
TRIO Programs “provide services for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds… targeted to serve and assist low-income, first-generation college students” (TRIO Home Page) in their quest for post-baccalaureate programs. As a former student from one of TRIO’s programs, Upward Bound, and a current four-year employee of the summer residential program, this news deeply concerns me. It concerns me not only because I benefitted from Upward Bound as a student, but also because I have watched many students successfully complete this program and go on to college after high school when they otherwise would not have. I believe very strongly in this program, and I strongly feel that it would hurt our children’s future and our country’s future if we were to cut the funding to TRIO programs such as Upward Bound.
I joined the Johnson State College Upward Bound Program in the early spring of 2005. I was a sophomore in high school and was not planning on attending college, despite my mother’s preaching about how I will (and my sisters, too) go to college and get an education.
Regardless of this I wasn’t convinced as a high school student. I didn’t want to go to college; I was in the stereotypical rebellious stage, and wanted to move far away. However one man helped me change my mind; Director of Johnson State College Upward Bound, Tony Blueter. I was recommended by one of my teachers at school, and soon I was in one on one meetings with him and my mother. He pulled for me to join, said he was making an extra spot for me when realistically he had a full program already lined up. His hook was “What are you doing better with your summer?” Truthfully I didn’t have anything better to do. We had just moved and I had changed schools the previous fall after spending one year at Burlington High School. I wasn’t excited for the summer or about school in general. So I begrudgingly signed on to the JSC Upward Bound Program for the summer of 2005.
The rest is history: I spent two summers there, some of the best summers of my life, learned about getting into college, how to apply, how to write college essays, how to fill out a FAFSA, where to look for scholarships, what it’s like living in a college dorm with strangers, and found some of the best friends I’ve had. I graduated high school in 2007 and was accepted into the University of Vermont, where I attend today. It really is an experience like no other, and a life changing one besides.
As a result, I felt obligated to give back a just a little bit, and became a summer residential employee for the program. Since the summer of 2008 I’ve been living in the JSC dorms during the residential part of the program and helping the students realize their own potential, and helping them realize they can go to college, too. I’ve watched some of these students grow over a period of three years and the progress they’ve made is astounding. It’s just amazing that these students do homework and class work willingly, driven to do something more for themselves than just settling for mediocre, more than average. That is one of the goals Tony strives for; we aren’t going to settle for average, we want to be the best and every one of us working with Upward Bound believes we are the best.
Looking back now I am so very grateful for the nagging and support I was given by my family, and equally important, Tony Blueter. He saw potential in me that I did not and somehow had me curious. From that one meeting on I was indeed hooked, and Upward Bound has been a monumental part of mine and my family’s lives. As an employee I have watched my youngest sister bloom into an amazing student and wonderful person, independent, strong willed, and driven. I owe my college career and future in the high school teaching profession to this program and the unwavering support I’ve received for the past seven years.
My point is this program means the world to hundreds of thousands of high school students, their families, and the adults that work with them, Upward Bound and all of TRIO included.
So now I'll ask that, if this has touched a single nerve in your heart, sign this petition to keep TRIO programs alive. Please guys, help me out and sign this petition. I owe Upward Bound so much; my career, my college education, the rest of my life, and I don't want to imagine a world where kids like me don't get the same chance I did. I don't want to see the students I work with all summer long suddenly have that same chance ripped out of their hands by people who will never know how hard it is to get to college, or how much it means to them to be told "We believe in you" when no one else has before. Please help me out, help our nation's children out. Sign the petition.
Our goal is to reach 10,000 signatures and we need more support. You can read more and sign the petition here:
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