Determined to Succeed welcomed 2020 family-style, with our annual new year’s picnic at Kenneth Hahn Park. Students and their families spent a sunny (yet chilly!) winter morning catching up with DTS staff, DTS Board members, and one another. Always a treat, many of our college students were home for the holidays and shared the day with us.

Chris and Alex are both 11th graders. Chris sought out Alex several months ago to help him with his Algebra 2 class. They’ve been working together nearly every day since.   Q: How did you come to work together?  Chris: We met in DTS in ninth grade, and Alex has always been a really strong student. I was struggling and thought maybe if I work with Alex, some of that math genius would rub off on me (he laughs). So, I asked him to help me one day during DTS study hall, and I understood everything after he explained it….

Brittany is a senior, and Melissa is a freshman, at College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts. Through their DTS connection, they’ve become friends for life. Q:  How and when did you originally connect with one another?  Brittany: The connection between Melissa and I started when I worked as a summer intern for DTS in 2018. I was the lead intern for the College Application Bootcamp program and worked closely  with Melissa and her class. I helped her start the college application process through brainstorming ideas for her college essays and talking to her about college life. Melissa: Brittany was really…

Hyewon, a 12th grader in the midst of applying to colleges, is with College Access and Success Counselor Stephanie. Stephanie begins meeting with students regularly when they first join DTS in ninth grade, and she continues to check in with them weekly throughout college via FaceTime. Q:  How has your mentoring relationship evolved over the years? Stephanie:  Initially our relationship revolved around Hyewon’s academics, mostly me checking in on her grades and advising her through her academic struggles. Hyewon then invited me to an awards ceremony where she received a Korean leadership award, and I was immersed in her culture….

Last week, DTS, in conjunction with Hamilton High School’s parent booster club, hosted a college application personal statement workshop open to Hamilton’s entire senior class.  DTS staff and volunteers, along with 20 parent volunteers, worked one-on-one with students to help with brainstorming, fine tuning, and everything in between.  Over four hours, we helped more than 125 students feel more confident in their writing and in finding their voices.  It was an honor to be asked to provide this service for the greater population and a reminder that the need for college access assistance reaches far beyond the boundaries of the DTS…

Complementing our college admission representative visits are our twice-yearly excursions to local college campuses.  This month, DTS staff, students and their families toured Cal Poly Pomona, where we walked the campus, met current college students, and ate in the dining hall.  Our tour guides shared information about the school’s focus on hands-on learning, its strong veterinary, botany and hospitality programs, and its active student body.  College visits are an opportunity for students and their parents to “feel” campus life.  They strengthen students’ focus on their college goals and prompt them to reflect, “Do I see myself here?” “Setting foot on…