Warriors Get Hint Of Future At College Night

  

by Paula Fierros & Celestina Marinez

On Oct. 24, several thousand high school seniors (and even some juniors!) attended College Night, once again held at the Tucson Convention Center—a golden opportunity for our Southern Arizona near-high school graduates to be offered hundreds of collegiate choices and opportunities.

Nearly 50 of our Pueblo Warriors attended this two-hour evening event, giving students enough time to tour the booths for each college. There were nearly 200 colleges and universities represented at this event.

Class of 2018 Senior Carlos Chavez at Tucson College Night

Senior Ashely Andrade said she enjoyed looking at the U of A booth—which offered her education for her career interest in nursing.

Senior Robert Marinez also enjoyed the U of A booth since it offered engineering.

Senior Iram Arce said, “I spent a lot of time talking to representatives from the University of New Mexico not necessarily about that school’s academic classes but because of the great personality of the representative. He didn’t treat us condescendingly, and I picked up a couple of tips about college while I was talking to him.”

Seniors who have an idea of their future career have simplified their options based on what universities had to offer.

Senior Adela Garados said that she enjoyed speaking with multiple college and university booths.

“I really want to study foreign languages such as Italian and French,” Garados said. “It’s difficult to find universities and colleges that offer languages as a career.”

Plenty of high school juniors who attended College Night, as they are already becoming curious about their futures.

“Attending College Night was refreshing and definitely eye-opening,” junior Laura Conde said. “Even though I won’t be graduating for another year and a half, I am taking my time deciding where to attend college when I graduate in 2019. It’ll be here sooner than later.”

Arizona Universities Visit Pueblo 2016

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By Lauren Ahern

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Tri Universities Presentation makes a stop at Pueblo

During sixth period on Tuesday, September 20, 2016, seniors were treated to presentations from Arizona’s three public universities: the University of Arizona (here in Tucson), Northern Arizona University (located in Flagstaff) and Arizona State University (located in Tempe). Of the nearly 385 seniors at Pueblo, more than 300 were able to attend.

Representatives from each of the three universities spoke for approximately 25 minutes each, promoting the positive qualities about each of their campuses as well as discussing financial aid information. Near the end of these presentations, seniors were encouraged to pick up brochures and other informational literature about one, two or all three of the universities.

College and Career counselor Ms. Mandy McTavish organized this event, which was deemed a success by the high number of seniors in attendance and by the comments of those seniors following the event.

One senior, Alejandro Carrazco, said, “This event couldn’t have come at a better time for us seniors because a lot of us were getting too comfortable about just being seniors. For me, hearing from these universities inspired me to start thinking about my future. I want to pursue a career that has something to do with math, and I’m thinking about attending N.A.U.”

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Class of 2017 Seniors taking advantage of presentation

Another senior, Griselda Miranda, said, “These presentations reminded me that I am really a senior and that I need to start preparing for college this semester and not waiting until the last minute. I thought the whole event was extremely well-organized and eye-opening to every senior in attendance.”

Senior Adnan Taleb said, “I’m not decided yet where I’m attending college next fall, but I’m starting to get information from the University of Arizona and Arizona State University regarding engineering and science-related degrees. Today’s visit from all three state universities is definitely a wake-up call for all of us seniors.”

Counselor McTavish said, “I was pleased by the number of seniors who showed up for the presentation today. But, seniors need to do more than just attend these events. They actually have to apply for colleges—and soon. They need to study for ACT tests as well as prepare to apply for FAFSA.”

McTavish added that she and the other counselors will be delighted to assist all seniors throughout the school year but adds that NOW is better than next April or May.

TRIO Helps Students With Collegiate Futures

Xamantha Williams El Guerrero Pueblo 2015

By Xamantha Williams

Among all of the great resources this school has to offer, one of the greatest is Mr. Carlos Gonzales, Jr., who is Pueblo’s Trio Educational Talent Search Program Coordinator.

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TRiO Program Coordinator Carlos Gonzales (right) with Iram Arce.

Gonzales is here on campus as a college advisor for Trio students three days out of the school week; he can be found either in the College and Career Center or in the library. TRIO is not an acronym and actually stands for the word “Three”, which represents the three parts of the TRIO program: Upward Bound, Education and Student Support Services. Gonzales said that he specializes in the second program.

Gonzales said, “I definitely like to get to know my students starting from their freshman year up until their senior year because I feel it takes a long time to develop a real relationship with a student.”

He focuses on preparing students for applying for colleges, looking for scholarships, and helping students to choose the best college for them.

One of the many students who appreciate Gonzales is sophomore Iram Arce, who said, “Mr. Gonzales keeps me motivated no matter how challenging things may seem. So far, he has helped me open more doors to my future. I’m so lucky to have such an amazing person who does such an amazing job in this program.”

Warriors Explore Future At Tucson College Night 2015

America Cardenas Pueblo El Guerrero

By América Cárdenas

Once again, Tucson College Night rocks the worlds of our seniors and juniors at Pueblo Magnet High School. An estimated 50 Pueblo students braved the lines and crowds at the Tucson Convention Center on Tuesday, September 29 from 6:30-8:30 p.m., although some seniors noted that they were speaking to college representatives way after 9:00 p.m.

More than 3,000 were in attendance—students and their families from all over Southern Arizona. All of the hard work paid off—work that is done Ms. Holly Colonna and Ms. Beth Counts who work for TUSD’s Guidance and Counseling Departments.

Pueblo Warriors At Tucson College Night 2015
Class of 2016 Seniors Precious Wall, Sky Blue Estrella, Guadalupe Chacon, Manny Buelena & America Cardenas at Tucson College Night 2015

Sky Blue Estrella, a senior who attended College Night, said, “The event was overwhelmingly filled with high school students and a lot of college recruiters. I really enjoyed talking to some of the out of state colleges, including San Marcos College in California.” He paused and said, “If I have to, I’ll go to Pima, but I think that attending College Night really opened up my eyes and offered me many collegiate options.”

Mr. Ruben Romero, Pueblo’s College and Career coordinator, encouraged all of this year’s seniors to attend the event, and apparently he and senior teachers at Pueblo, made an impact on our students because the TCC parking lot was completely full in a reported 17 minutes!

Another senior who attended, Guadalupe Chacon, a senior, also took full advantage of the numerous colleges.

“It was fun to talk to some of the colleges from far away, including Alabama,” Chacon said. “Realistically, however, we spoke to the recruiters and reps from Arizona State University and the University of New Mexico.”

She paused and added, “This experience was a wake-up call for me and many seniors—especially since we have less than eight months [until graduation].”

Warriors ‘Invade’ College Fair

By Isaac Montiel

Tucson College Night 2014

The Tucson College Fair took place on the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 30 at the Tucson Convention Center, and several thousand Southern Arizona high school students—mostly seniors—took advantage of the more than 200 colleges present to answer questions about their schools.

Mr. Ruben Romero, Pueblo’s College and Career counselor, said, “It’s always important for students to make a face-to-face contact when meeting a college representative. Students always have great information about dozens of colleges at these fairs. The more options students have, the more prepared they will be for post-high school life.”

Principal Dr. Augustine Romero said, “It is really important for our students—especially our seniors—to attend the College Fair because they need to be prepared for the next level after high school.”

Besides all of the Arizona colleges and universities in attendance, many out of state colleges also had informational booths available for students.

Pueblo senior Gelsey Grijalva, one of the estimated more than 50 Pueblo seniors who attended the Tucson College Fair, said, “There were so many colleges there—it almost was overwhelming! But, there are colleges for everybody out there.” She paused and said, “I’m still not sure of where I’m attending college, but at least I know there are opportunities out there for me and the rest of my peers who might also be undecided about their futures.”

She paused and said, “I felt confident when I left the fair—it was like a wake-up call for me being a senior because now I realize how quickly this year is flying by. Up until now, I’ve been in denial about being a senior. The College Fair was definitely a slap in the face—like, ‘Wake up, Gelsey!’

Another Pueblo senior, Gabriela Gastelum, who attended the College Fair, said, “I was able to get information about a few schools—from a few film and art schools in New York City. I really want to major in broadcast journalism or anything associated with journalism. I’m so ready for the real world and I’m not afraid of graduating.”

Harvard Undergraduate Student Visits Pueblo

Greta Solinap visited Pueblo today and encouraged our Warriors to explore the possibility of attending Harvard. Greta attended Nogales High School and graduated with a 5.0 GPA.

Greta is currently a Freshman at Harvard College with a concentration on Neurobiology. She is the coordinator of the Undergraduate Minority Recruitment Program Mexican American Division.

Greta Solinap

About 70 students accepted the invitation to attend this informative presentation and asked many questions.

Students listen to Harvard presentation

We want to thank Greta for her visit and the motivation she gave our students to reach higher learning.

Bill Gates & Matt Damon attended Harvard, sort of.

Greta shared that she likes to sing as part of the Harvard Radcliffe Veritones, you can see her talent here and here.