WATCH: Finding the Right Fit College & Thriving workshop

Mar 17 2023

When you are looking for a college to go to, there are lots of things to think about. Assets School hosted a community event: College Fit and Persistence Workshop: Finding the Right Fit College & Thriving There at Assets School's Damon Hall on Thursday, March 9. The 90-minute workshop was live-streamed on Assets School’s YouTube Channel.

Assets School’s College and Career Counselor Farris James, who has been an educational leader at Assets since 2006, coordinated this event. Farris begins early working with our students to create their future beyond Assets whether that be attending college, trade school, serving our country, or landing the perfect career position. It is a requirement for graduation to attend her College/Career Guidance class. Typically, we have 100% of our students apply to college and be accepted. Overall, 95% of our students are college bound while about 5% are career bound!

“Part of Assets' mission is to be an outreach and advocacy organization for our kind of students everywhere,” James said. She explained how college is different from high school. “High School is table service for accommodations and support,” said James. “College is a buffet. Some people say it is a buffet with a scavenger hunt where you have to go find the food stations. A college fit is complex for all students but for students with learning exceptionalities it is just that little bit more complex.”

The featured speakers were both from the University of Portland: Interim Dean of Admissions Matt Deschner and Shepard Academic Resource Center Director Brenda Greiner. We appreciate their time and expertise and look forward to hosting more community events.

Deschner has been with the University of Portland since 2005. He shared that he manages his ADHD and has family members with dyslexia.

“Deep breathing, yoga, help from medical professionals, and asking for help has been so valued to me, and allowed me to get to a place to be interim dean,” Deschner said.

He described what a student and their family can look for when deciding which college would be a good fit.

“This is not just for students but also parents,” said Descher. “This is a family affair. This is a family journey. This is a huge decision. It’s also a big decision all of you need to consider together because it is going to shape the rest of your lives.”

He also talked about how the college admission process works.

Shepard Academic Resource Center Director Brenda Greiner has worked at the University of Portland for 25 years, She elaborated on a few things you can do when you’re in college that will help you.

“Students are always transitioning into their experience at college,” Greiner said. “We are experts at helping students in their journey. We are kind of like the auto club on campus. If you don’t know where to go. If you don’t even know what questions you want to ask, come to us. We can either get you connected to the right person or the right resource on campus.”

This workshop was a collaboration between Assets School, the University of Portland, and the Hawaii Association for College Admission Counseling (HACAC). It is available for viewing on the Assets YouTube channel at this link.

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WATCH: Finding the Right Fit College & Thriving workshop

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