A New School Year Begins at Destination: College

Students, volunteers and partners come together as another year of opportunity gets underway

There’s a special energy at Destination: College at the start of a new school year. Students are back, volunteers are reconnecting, new relationships are beginning — and another year of helping student-athletes prepare for college and beyond is officially underway.

And we’ve certainly hit the ground running.

We kicked things off by welcoming new and returning volunteers at our Volunteer Kick Off breakfast.

Our volunteers are an important part of the Destination: College community, giving their time, experience and encouragement to support our students throughout the year.

This year, volunteers were also introduced to a new eight-week Scope & Sequence for Team Reads, designed to give greater purpose to their discussions with students, support relationship-building and provide useful information along the way.

It was a chance to prepare for the year ahead — and, just as importantly, to reconnect with the people who make this work possible.

That same day, the focus turned to our seniors.

College Center volunteers and seniors gathered in the Mount Vernon High School library for our College Center Meet & Greet, officially launching this year’s college application process.

Students received information to help them begin navigating their applications, but the afternoon was about more than paperwork. Seniors made their way around the room meeting a variety of College Center volunteers, beginning to build connections and getting a sense of who might be a good fit to work alongside them this fall.

Those relationships matter. The college application process can involve everything from identifying the right schools and completing the Common Application to essays, résumés, financial aid and scholarship applications. Having a compatable and knowledgable volunteer there to guide, encourage and problem-solve with a student can make a complicated process feel much more manageable.

Opening Doors - and Coming Full Circle - at PwC

The momentum continued this week as 16 Destination: College alumni visited PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for an opportunity to explore the professional world, make connections and learn more about career possibilities.

The visit also brought the Destination: College story full circle.

One of our own DC alumni now works at PwC — and will soon return to Destination: College in a new role as a volunteer and mentor, sharing his experience with the next generation of students.

It’s a wonderful example of the community we hope to build: one that doesn’t end when a student graduates, but continues as our alumni move through college, begin their careers and find new ways to stay connected and give back.

We’re grateful to PwC for opening its doors to our alumni — and especially proud to see one member of the DC community come full circle, from student to professional to mentor.

Students this week headed to St. Thomas Aquinas College for our first campus visit of the year.

College visits give students something that a website or brochure simply can’t: the chance to experience a campus for themselves.

They can see the environment, ask questions and begin thinking more concretely about what they want from their own college experience. That exploration is part of helping students find colleges that are a good fit for their academic, personal and financial needs.

And We're Off!

Back at Mount Vernon High School, the College Center is now open for the year and Team Reads is getting underway.

Taken individually, these may look like very different activities — a volunteer gathering, a college application meeting, an alumni career experience, a college tour and an afternoon at the College Center.

Together, though, they tell the Destination: College story.

It’s about bringing young people together with people who will support them. It’s about providing information and guidance when they need it. It’s about exposing students and alumni to opportunities and helping them see possibilities for their futures.

And, as our PwC visit so perfectly demonstrated, it’s also about creating a community that can continue long after a student leaves Destination: College — with alumni staying connected and, in some cases, returning to encourage and mentor those coming behind them.

We’re excited for the year ahead — and we hope you’ll follow along.

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