College Education Beyond the Books

And with the help of this seminar, many people now know it.

"We do this so that parents or students who are thinking about going to college or doing something after high school have a place to go to start asking questions about admissions about financial aid," says event coordinator Samuel Garcia.

The seminar splits the parents and students into two separate groups, with each group learning their own set of vital information.

"If you have faith in yourself and invest in your education, that eventually it'll pay off. That it's possible," says Julian Gonzales, a senior at Cooper High School.
"There's more financial aid than I thought there was so it's a lot of help to get your kids into college and get them where they need to be," says parent Denise Hardman.

For the students, although going to college is a dream come true, there's also some pressure involved.

"I'm the first generation college student in my family. Kinda proud, a little bit nervous, don't want to fail my family but really looking forward to it. I just want the chance to prove myself," says Austin King, a senior at Adams High.

For most of these parents, the entire college application process is just a little bit intimidating. The majority of the parents never went to school themselves and they weren't sure where to begin.

"I had kids at a young age so I was a high school drop out," says Hardman.

Her past is her motivation to make sure her daughter goes to college.

"I just push her to strive for the best. To do what she needs to do and try and stay on top of her education. That way she won't have to struggle how I had to struggle," she explains.

And when the day comes that her daughter gets into a university...

"Oh I'll jump for joy, I'll be in tear," she exclaims.

The program's purpose may have been the how's and when's of getting college, but the end results are about so much more.