I arranged for three 5th Grade classes to go see Marymount College campus in the beautiful hills of Rancho Palos Verdes on Wednesday, May 6, 2009. The collaborating teachers were Ms. Abramyan, Mr. Fregoso, and Ms. Lares. Before leaving Hooper I assigned all three classes to write a few sentences about what they expected as a result of going to visit a college campus. The overwhelming majority of students never had the pleasure of visiting a college campus. Then when they returned I had them write concluding statements in order to compare expectations to the actual experience.


Mr. Fregoso's Students  

BEFORE
Hello, my name is Bryanna. I think the field trip I am about to take will help me get some ideas about what college will be like....so I am really looking forward to going!

AFTERWARDS
My experience was fantastic! I really got to see how a college campus looked. The library was filled with books written in all sorts of languages. There were people on computers all over the place. I learned that a four year degree is called a bachelor degree. I also learned that students need to have at least one sports class. I hope I can go again.

BEFORE
Hello my name is Cesar.
1)  I think the field trip is going to be a long bus ride.
2) The field trip might help me learn new things and ideas for class projects.
3) The college might be huge and beautiful.
4) Last---but not least---I think that the field trip might be very exciting.

AFTER
It was all I expected and a little bit more.

BEFORE
Hello, my name is Sarahi.
I expect that visiting the college may change some of my classmate's minds. Some are not serious about education, but most of us are. Going could make people realize they need to work hard in school. Also, I could get good grades to pass and get to college. It could help people in the future. It could help people.

AFTER
Also, it helps people to be a good person.

Ms. Abramyan’s Students

BEFORE
Hello, my name is Natalie.
I think this trip will help me to realize that it’s very important to go to college. I think that I will see a lot of adults who are working towards getting a good job. They will be focused on a lot of important things.

AFTER
I learned that working in college is important to getting a good career. I learn that people sacrifice and work hard to get into college. I learned that you have to do everything possible in order to get to college. You have to pass through good and bad things in your own life. I learned a lot of things. For example, you can decide on different career paths such as: professor, teacher (k-12) in elementary or middle school or high school where you need to know more math and science. I learned that many sports are available to play in college. After college, sports are important to living well in your daily life.
 

BEFORE
Hello, my name is Luis P.
I think the trip to Marymount College is going to be fun because they are going to teach me things about going to college.

AFTER
I learned new things about college that I didn’t know. College is a nice place where you can study. On a college campus all things are clean. They even have nice places to play sports as well as indoor games like pool and ping pong. Students also have places where they can do there homework. Now I know I need good grades in order to get into a college. All the students were good for the whole day during the visit. I’m going to work so I can get to go to college. That’s my dream.

BEFORE
Hello, my name is Brian.
I would like to go to college because I want to learn more math and reading. I would like to be a police officer.  I want to play football.  I want to learn science.

AFTER
I learned that being in college is a lot of hard work. The work in college is so hard you could get lost. I want to do the right things, not the wrong, so I too could end up going to college.

BEFORE
Hello, my name is Adrian.
I wonder what college the class is going to? I bet the college is a huge building. I think visiting a college will be a lot of fun.

AFTER
I learned that I can ask my professors for help with my work. I can live in college or at home. People go to college so they can get a great career after they graduate. I want to go to college to become a scientist---any kind of scientist. I want to be independent. After In go to college I will go to a university.

Ms. Lares’ Student’s

BEFORE
Hello, my name is Carlos.
I expect that going to this college will be creative and cool. I think that everything will be clean. I hope that there will be a lot of surprises.

AFTER
I didn’t know that there was a Catholic church on campus or such a thing as a game room for students called the Student Union. We could go there Mondays through Thursdays when we become a college student. Now I want to visit many more colleges so I can find out more.

BEFORE
Hello, my name is Anfernii.
I expect that there will be dorms, offices, and a big garden. There will also be lots of people and vending machines.p>

AFTER
It was a great trip. The campus was high up in the hills, above the clouds. That was different and interesting.

Marsha is a student that also attended my College & Beyond after school program. One topic that was repeatedly addressed was the need to have a basic understanding of personal heritage, and through knowledge of your people’s history, develop pride concerning who you are, being connected to specific heritage(s). Marsha’s speech was copied and handed out to all students to read after we returned from Marymount College. All students wrote comments. Not one of them disagreed with the points Marsha had made in her short statement below, the same statement she read during culmination ceremonies for Track D students.

MARSHA’S CULMINATION SPEECH

            I am going to talk about my good experience at Hooper. For example, the awards and trophies they give us for being good. Also, how helpful the teachers have been with us. They gave us field trips for our good behavior. The patience teachers had with us. How many times teachers told us what to do to help us improve. What you did helped me.

             One of the most important things that I was taught at Hooper was about heritage. The thing I learned was never to be ashamed of heritage. Respect who you are. Never be ashamed of yourself. Be proud to be who you are. If you are a Mexican American or whoever you are, be proud. Never trash your heritage. Don’t be rude, you have to respect others’ heritage as they respect yours.

            Another important thing is how Hooper helps me for the future. It helped me in many ways. One thing is that it helped me get rid of bad manners and bad habits, things we need to do to succeed  in life. They showed me not to be lazy because it will get me nowhere in life. I need to get to much higher levels, to become more educated.