Following last year’s success of the “Reach Higher” College Signing Day at UC Irvine, Destination UC is the first “UC” specific event for students from our Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP) partner schools who have committed to a UC campus. The purpose of the event was to bring students of diverse backgrounds from the local area together as UC bound students. Through this event, students had the opportunity to connect by campus, learn about campus-specific resources, and engage as a part of the UC community.
In its first year, the event was a huge success recording 50 student participants representing all nine UC campuses. The event was developed and led by UC Irvine’s EAOP team, including all professional staff and 13 student staff. The virtual event allowed for campus representatives from all nine universities to give presentations to students attending their respective UC campuses.
The 2-hour event included workshops to help students identify resources and tools necessary to successfully transition from High School to the UC, organized breakout rooms by UC campuses destination allowing students from the local area to virtually connect with one another, as well as receive a UC campus-specific resources presentations.
Participating students also received a Destination UC “swag bag” that included a Destination UC t-shirt, a journal, planner, a Destination UC button, stickers, a lanyard, and pens and highlighters.
The event was a successful way to keep students engaged and connected during the limbo period after graduation and before starting their freshman year of college. The EAOP team from UC Irvine included EAOP participants from Riverside and San Diego as they saw this as an opportunity to not only connect students from the local area but to also continue serving their students during a time when they are not typically served.
UC Santa Barbra EAOP Director, Britt Ortiz gave the following statement after the event:
“I would like to thank Ashley and her team for putting this together, leading the charge, and proving that we can do this across the system and that we will just keep getting better at it as we keep practicing. Awesome job!
Thanks so much for your efforts and all those that collectively supported the event from across the state, from our respective EAOP programs, and our allies. Great work! Definitely showed there is a need, that our students have lots of questions, and that the more we can provide opportunities for them to grow, learn, and receive wisdom, the more likely they are to benefit, even in the virtual world!
Hats off to the UCI Team!”
– Britt Ortiz, UCSB EAOP Director
The plan is for Destination UC to become an annual tradition. Hopefully, with enough interest from our campus partners, we can continue to develop the curriculum to support future UC bound students further.
The Center for Educational Partnership and UCI School of Education would like to acknowledge the following staff for their contributions in creating such a successful event.
- Dr. Ashley Cheri, EAOP Director
- Cristina Flores, Assistant Director
- Erick Espino, Program Coordinator
- Paola Sotelo, Program Coordinator
- Jody Cajudo, Program Coordinator
- Taariq Elmahadi, Program Coordinator
- Alondra Garcia, Program Coordinator
- Manuel Rojas, Student Coordinator
- Melanie Macias, Student Coordinator
- Misty Gasca, Student Coordinator
- Joanna Echeverria, Student Coordinator