Students in Upward Bound Program Grateful for Chance

High school students in Cal Lutheran University’s Upward Bound program met Tuesday to watch their peers launch rockets they had built and talk about what the program meant to them.

Nicole Roberson, 15, said she will be the first in her family to attend college. And she’ll probably be in school until she’s 28, because she hopes to be an OB-GYN.

“My sixth-grade teacher was surprised that I, a black student, was in her honors class,” said Nicole, who will be a high school junior in San Jose. “My mom drives me to the other side of town so I can go to school. My parents really want me to get a good education. They only have their high school degrees, and they’re really proud of me for my ambition. I want to prove that African Americans can achieve something.”

The program, which began at CLU in 1992, accepts students from the West Coast, as well as Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii and Guam, said Joy Brittain, the program’s summer director.

Upward Bound, a federal program, was founded in 1965 by the Higher Education Act as one of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society programs. It was created to help prepare low-income and first-generation college-bound students prepare for higher education.

“The way the program is set up, it helps students not just in academics, but it helps in motivation, socialization and diversity,” Brittain said. “It’s all of these different factors integrated to make the program work. It’s amazing what the students accomplish. Some go on to Yale, Stanford, MIT and Howard.”

Nicole said she loves the program, which is helping her prepare for her ultimate goal--to be U.S. surgeon general.

“When I want something, I go and get it,” she said.