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St. Olaf Upward Bound students attend conference in D.C.

By Tom Vogel
June 28, 2007

Recently, four high school students from St. Olaf's Upward Bound program were chosen to attend the Council for Opportunity in Education's National Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. Thanks to scholarships from St. Paul Travelers to cover $1,200 travel expenses, Mai Chor Lee, Pamela Barrientos, Chong Vang and Arwa Osman all traveled to D.C. where, from June 9-14, they joined other TRiO students from nearly every state, as well as Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, to develop leadership skills, study government and tour the nation's capitol.

Upward Bound
Pamela Barrientos (left) and Arwa Osman stop outside the Supreme Court Building. Both were chosen from St. Olaf's Upward Bound program to attend the Council for Opportunity in Education's National Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C.


For many students, such as Lee, who will be a senior at Humbolt High in St. Paul this fall, it was their first time out of their home state. For others, such as Barrientos, who will be a senior at Red Wing High, it was the first time traveling alone.

Once in D.C. students stayed at American University, and were divided into groups for a mock congress. Based on their areas of interest, they were assigned a potentially politically charged topic and, during the course of the week, wrote a bill on it. As part of a media group, Lee worked on a bill dealing with regulating the cartoon industry, while both Barrientos and Vang were in a group discussing alleviating U.S. and world poverty.

When they weren't working on their bills, students visited many of the city's landmarks, from the Supreme Court Building and Lincoln Memorial to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall and the White House, as well as the Washington Home and Hospice Center, the largest homeless shelter in the United States.

The students also engaged in several service projects around the greater D.C. area at such venues as the Creative Center for Non-Violence, Shalom House, the Council for Opportunity in Education, and Bread for the City. The week culminated with a leadership banquet and talent show.

Vang, who will be a junior at Humbolt High this fall, says that even though participants came from all over the U.S., "everyone was very respectful of each other and their differences."

Moving up
Since 1989 St. Olaf College has hosted Upward Bound, a federally-funded TRiO program designed to help high school students reach college by providing academic and personal support and guidance. Students would be the first generation in their family to attend college and are from families below 150 percent of poverty.

Lee became involved in Upward Bound during her first year of high school when an Upward Bound representative visited her school. Now, entering her senior year, she has been elected by other Upward Bound students to the Student Leadership Council, a group that plans activities and fund raising events.

Vang admits to being a less-than-stellar student in middle school, but recalls wanting to excel in high school. Thanks to encouragement from his sister, who also was in the Upward Bound program, he applied and was accepted. "I decided that I wanted to do well in high school and go to college," he says. This summer he's taking post-secondary education courses at St. Olaf as part of the Upward Bound program.

For Barrientos, involvement in Upward Bound was the result of her best friend -- whose sister was in Upward Bound -- encouraging her to apply. She says the experience has been life changing.

"The tutoring sessions have really helped me," says Barrientos, who speaks predominantly Spanish in her home in Red Wing. "I was determined to go to college, but I didn't know how I was going to do it. My mom only went as far as the sixth grade, so I couldn't ask her questions about college or the application process."

Upward Bound not only has helped Barrientos begin preparing for college, but it also has given her the chance to excel in high school. She currently is enrolled in honors classes, and she recently founded a diversity group at school. Like Lee, she was elected to the Upward Bound Student Leadership Council, of which she will be president in the fall. "If I weren't in Upward Bound I wouldn't have reached this level," she says.

"Upward Bound gives students other choices, beyond just finishing high school and getting a job," Barrientos says. "Thanks to Upward Bound and TRiO I realized how many opportunities there are out there."

She tells a story from her recent trip to Washington, D.C. During a visit to the Capitol, a group of students, all wearing their TRiO T-shirts, was spotted by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. She approached the group, spoke with them and told them how important she felt the TRiO program was.

"We're recognized around the country as a group that changes lives," Barrientos says. "During my trip to Washington, D.C., I grew as a person and as a leader. Now I can go back to my school and apply what I learned."

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.