Mayra
Sanchez
(Canyon)—When Mayra Sanchez graduated from Amarillo’s Palo Duro High School, she became a first-generation high school graduate. It’s little wonder she considered the achievement a pinnacle rather than a steppingstone in life.
She had never considered moving on to college. In fact, the very notion of higher education terrified her; she was certain she wouldn’t fit in. And how could she possibly afford it?
But Mayra’s attitude changed abruptly when, upon the urging of a high school counselor named Leigh Neeley, she entered a unique summer preparatory program for first-generation college students at West Texas A&M University.
Now, less than a year removed from high school, Mayra attends WTAMU, where she is a freshman international business major with her sights already set on a master’s degree.
WTAMU’s University Success Academy (USA) made the difference for Mayra and 43 others in the 2005 cohort.
“I was scared to death,” Mayra said. “No way was I going to a university. I even ignored Mrs. Neeley the first couple times she mentioned USA, but she kept calling me, telling me I could do it. My parents said it was OK, so I agreed to go.
“USA opened my mind to a whole new world, and I’m not afraid anymore. I know now that I want a better future and that I can get it here. I’m going for my master’s degree, too.”
West Texas A&M developed the USA concept in 2004 in response to the state’s College Success Initiative. It was pitched to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s First Generation College Student (FGCS) program, which in turn awarded the university a one-year, $30,000 grant.
Here’s how USA works: Each student accepted into the program receives free tuition and fees, room and board, and books and supplies for two summer classes (six semester credit hours). One class is a mandatory interdisciplinary course, while the other can be a core course of each student’s choosing.
To ensure the cohort is totally immersed in the higher-education experience, the program is designed to include group social functions, like attending theatre events and cookouts.
For community engagement, the group volunteers time at a local shelter or food pantry.
USA students also receive tutoring and assistance in applying for future scholarships and financial aid.
That first summer (2004), USA accepted 27 brand new high school graduates committed to becoming the first in their families to achieve a four-year degree, whether at WTAMU or elsewhere. The cohort combined to produce a 3.3 overall grade point average, and all of them were true to their word and elected to continue their pursuit of bachelors’ degrees in the fall.
USA is the brainchild of Troy Johnson, WTAMU’s dean of enrollment management. He was so pleased by the first-year success of the program that he decided to continue the program in 2005 with underwriting this time from the university.
However, Johnson clearly wasn’t the only one with strong feelings about USA. Soon after the 2005 cohort had been selected—44 students this time from a pool of more than 100 applicants—the state came through with the unexpected: WTAMU received a surprise FGCS grant of $25,000 for summer 2005 and a promise of $50,000 for 2006.
“It was pretty much a last-minute thing,” Johnson said. “We’re not only gratified by this funding, we’re delighted to know that our University Success Academy is considered worth funding and expanding by the Coordinating Board.”
The 2005 cohort outdid the inaugural one by achieving a combined 3.40 grade point average, and all 44 enrolled in college in the fall, 35 of them at WTAMU.
“I learned that you have to have an open mind,” Mayra said of the summer experience. “It’s a whole different level of teaching from high school, but you constantly meet people who are a lot like you, except they have really big dreams. Now I have big dreams, too, because I don’t want to get left behind.”
Neither do Mayra’s two teenage brothers, who hope to become the second and third of their lineage to graduate from high school, then move on.
“Whenever I go home they keep me up half the night asking me what college is like, what it’s like living there. They’re excited about living in a dorm. They think about what they want to be. They want what I have, and I know that if Mrs. Neeley hadn’t pushed me to try USA, nobody at my house would be talking about college at all.”