Tucson high schoolers get a taste of college life at ASU

In February, about 25 teenagers from the Tucson Unified School District participated in a college exploration tour hosted by Arizona State University's School of Transborder Studies in partnership with TUSD’s Mexican American Student Services Department.

These types of visits are offered to any student in the district interested in learning more about going to college and finding the right fit for them. The district is diverse but, according to TUSD’s website, more than half are Hispanic/Latino. So far this year, the department has visited four college campuses, including one out-of-state university in New Mexico. Visits to all three Arizona public state universities are standard.

Program Director Mario Aguilar Buenrostro said they sent out flyers, engaged in digital recruitment and relied on newsletters to inform parents and students to register to attend at no cost.

“We want students to get the college experience and this way we can tailor it to their needs and provide them with resources because it can be easy to get lost at a university, and this is a component we focus on," Buenrostro said.

He also said they try to answer any questions the parents may have surrounding the college-going process. Many students are first-generation, so the process can be unfamiliar.

At a recent forum, ASU President Michael Crow said, “We have the 46th lowest college-going rate. If you're a freshman in an Arizona public high school, you have a 19% chance of finishing college — one half the national average."

Programs like this are designed to help change those odds.

The group of high school students piled into Durham Hall and intently listened to President’s Professor Eileen Diaz-McConnell of the School of Transborder Studies as she spoke about her journey to becoming a professor and provided an overview of global migration.

A University of Notre Dame graduate, McConnell spoke about her family's migration journey and opened up about how she switched majors several times during her college career. She said it’s important for young people to see that they can be successful in college if they just persist through the challenges that might occur.

“It's especially valuable for first-generation college students to hear directly from faculty that they have what they need to thrive in college and that their own unique experiences will be respected and honored at a university like ASU,” said McConnell.

For Tucson High School junior Sergio Lopez, who has been taking dual enrollment classes at Pima Community College, visiting ASU really puts things in perspective. While he hasn’t yet decided what exactly he will study, he knows he wants to continue creating things. Lopez collects cardboard boxes and creates realistic toy props.

As he was observing McConnell’s lecture, he kept thinking, “We don’t need permission to do things; we just need to do.”

The larger group split up in groups with Access ASU Early Outreach Scholars who guided the young students along iconic areas such as Old Main, the School of Life Sciences, the Memorial Student Union and Gammage Auditorium.

Robert Phelps, a senior at Catalina High School said the campus is "aesthetically pleasing." He said while his first choice is to attend college, he is also considering joining the military because of the tuition benefits.

Cecilia Sandoval, also a junior at Tucson High, said the visit has her thinking about her own plans to pursue a career in psychology. She said she feels like there is a stigma surrounding therapy for kids, but her positive experience with therapy has inspired her to learn more about how the mind works and how she can help others.

For many of the students who stepped onto ASU’s Tempe campus that day, the visit was more than a field trip — it was a chance to picture themselves in a place that can sometimes feel out of reach. By connecting high schoolers with faculty, current students and firsthand classroom experiences, the School of Transborder Studies and TUSD are working to make college feel less intimidating and more attainable.

If Arizona is to change its college-going trajectory, it will be through moments like these — when curiosity is sparked, questions are answered and students begin to see that they belong in higher education.

College tours can be scheduled through visit.asu.edu