Future doctors, lawyers, teachers and other professionals met their destiny last Saturday by attending the seventh annual “College: Making It Happen” seminar.

Sacramento State Outreach Services, in collaboration with the University of California, Davis, Los Rios Community Colleges, and the University of the Pacific, put on the presentation in an effort to educate both student and parents to the realities of higher learning.

The annual seminar is designed to reach, educate and prepare junior high and high school students for college. The program is designed to help parents make sense of the seemingly overwhelming process of applying to colleges and universities. It breaks down the step by step process by helping and explaining to parents how to actually fill out college applications, helps them understand the procedure of receiving financial aid and helps parents understand online options for preparing their children for college.

According to Rocky Berrera of the UC Davis Early Academic Outreach Undergraduate Admissions Department, the department takes college preparation a step further by providing their own services, which include basic information, motivation, academic skills development, test preparation, some field trip programs, and tutoring and mentor services. UC Davis also has regular monthly meetings with schools on site and they work with local schools to insure that the word gets out that college is for everyone.

Sac State?s Associate Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, Eric Gravenberg, Ph.D., said they also have a similar program in place. Throughout the year, Sac State staff visit area schools and have extensive agreements with those schools to have access to students and counselors to insure that students and parents are prepared for college.

The individual schools are also active in advising parents that it is never too early to start thinking about college.

Susan Perez, mother of 12-year-old Rachel Perez, attended the seminar and said she was there because her daughter?s school, Holy Spirit Junior High School, had sent her a letter advising her that the seminar was taking place to help parents learn about the different academic options and financial aid and scholarship options that are available. Perez said that this was especially important to her, as she is a single mother. After attending this seminar, she said that she is optimistic about her daughter?s college future and also learned that it is not too late for her to attend college also, and get the degree that she has always wanted.

According to Gravenberg, this outreach program is an effective tool designed to reach people like the Perez family who would normally assume that it was not possible to achieve their college dreams.

Gravenberg said that Sac State?s version of the college outreach program was extremely successful.

“Enrollment for CSUS has gone through the roof,” Gravenberg said.

Sheldon High School freshman, Philip Harrel, left, discusses his academic options with Outreach Coordinator David Ortega, Saturday in the University Union Ballroom.