Part of getting ready for college is imagining yourself there. But some students don’t have a clear idea of what that looks like.

Maybe he would be a first-generation college student. Maybe his school districts doesn’t have the resources for the fields he dreams of. Maybe he believes he has to declare a major when he walks on campus in order to be successful.

Dr. Shawn Wahl, dean of the College of Arts and Letters at Missouri State University, says the precollege experiences can be transformational.

“If they’re from a district that doesn’t have the resources, whether that’s related to science labs or artistic experiences and instruments, it gives students the opportunity to dream about going to college, and to actually perform or work with high quality equipment,” Wahl said. “Anytime a student has the opportunity to come to a college campus, to work with a faculty member who empowers them or who coaches them in a different way,I think those are the sorts of things that are really important.”

Getting children on campus early

COAL offers many precollege experiences in each of the academic departments, including:

• Missouri Fine Arts Academy 2020
• High School Art Day
• Global Leadership Academy
• MSHSSA State Tournament
• MSU-Deo high School tournament
• MSDI, MSU Debate Institute
• Children’s Literature Festival of the Ozarks
• Middle School Writing Conference
• High School Writing Conference
• International Culture Fair
• World Languages Showcase
• Choral Institute
• Bands Alive
• String Fling
• Young Artists Keyboard Academy
• High School Workshop
• Any Given Child
• Dance Day
• Summer Dance Intensive

Read the transcript

For more information, contact the COAL office at 417-836-5247.

Be a Bear