Eggs cocooned in tape and paper cups were dropped from the top
of Boelter Hall with resounding thuds, courtesy of high school
students from across Los Angeles who visited UCLA on Friday.
The students did not come just to drop eggs, but also to attend
Higher Learning Day, put on through the joint effort of the Society
of Latino Engineers and Scientists and the National Society of
Black Engineers.
Sponsored by the UCLA Center for Excellence in Engineering and
Diversity, the event was designed to encourage Los Angeles high
school juniors and seniors to attend college. The day’s
activities included demonstrations, campus tours and a college
application workshop.
“(Many minority students) don’t pursue (college)
because they think they’ll be isolated,” said Vince
Washington, a physics and calculus teacher at City Honors High
School in Inglewood.
Minorities remain particularly underrepresented in technical and
scientific fields, and should be encouraged to pursue these
careers, he added.
Limited access to resources also makes college seem like an
unreachable goal for some disadvantaged students.
“It’s not that they can’t make it,” said
Mike Flores, a fourth-year electrical engineering and computer
science student. “They’re just never
exposed.”
Some minority students are at a disadvantage because they do not
have access to things like high-speed Internet or family members in
technical fields, said Erik Meserole, a graduate student in
material science and engineering.
“We’re exposing them to technology to spark some
interest,” said Meserole, who presented a demonstration at
the event.
Students usually do not have many role models involved in
technological careers, Washington said.
“I think it’s good to see that there are minorities
that are working to be in the technical fields,” he said.
Students were also advised to pursue college despite
difficulties.
“We learned that financial issues shouldn’t stop you
from going to college,” said Monique Ornelas, a junior at
Morningside High School. “There are always
resources.”
Some of the volunteers at Higher Learning Day related to the
high school students in attendance through their own experiences in
high school.
“I didn’t think of myself as material for
(college),” Flores said.
But attending Higher Learning Day makes college seem more
attainable, he said.
“We just want to show (high school students) that
we’re just like them and make them want to apply,”
Flores said.
The outreach effort was designed for high school students
involved in the Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement
programs at their schools. Approximately 130 students from six high
schools attended the event.
With help from the University of California, the MESA program
encourages high schoolers from disadvantaged communities to pursue
careers in math and science.
“There’s some representation of every culture in
MESA,” said Judith Peters, a chemistry teacher and an adviser
for the MESA program at Westchester High School.
The program has been successful at Westchester, she said.
“Almost all of (the MESA students at Westchester) go on to
some sort of science field,” Peters said, adding that one of
the volunteers at Higher Learning Day was a former student of
hers.
According to the California MESA Web site, 41 percent of Latino,
black and American Indian high school graduates in the MESA program
were eligible for UC admission, compared to 2.8 percent of blacks
and 3.8 percent of Latino/as statewide.