FORT MILL, S.C. — Charlotte nonprofit Road to Hire is seeking solutions for underrepresented high school students by helping guide teens into the next phase of life, whether they go to college or enter the workforce.
Hundreds of high school students celebrated their commitment to the next journey in life on Wednesday, filling a room at Red Ventures with excitement.
Allyssa Vassell is looking forward to attending North Carolina A&T, with the goal of becoming a doctor.
“It's a really big thing for me now, and I'm really excited to tell everybody about it," Vassell said.
Josue Millan is committed to attending Western Carolina University.
“I'm ready for it," Millan said. "I'm happy and excited and definitely nervous.”
Students were nervous because commitment is a big word that carries a lot of weight. That's why Road to Hire stands alongside every student involved with the program.
This is why the organization Road to Hire stands alongside every student involved.
"Our goal here is to help students figure out what they want to be, figuring out how to do it, and to help remove barriers to make sure that they can be successful, not just to get to college, or post-secondary options, but through and ultimately to have jobs that will help them change their family's life," Allen Davis, the senior program manager with Road to Hire, said.
This goal applies especially to seniors who are the first in their family to attend college.
“I'm also the youngest of five siblings on top of that," Vassell said. "It's like I'm making my older siblings proud. I'm making my parents proud. I'm going to go to college, I'm going to be a doctor and it just makes me feel like their hard work has paid off."
The students' visions have widened and college is now a task they're committed to seeing through with success.
“I'm that stepping stone and I now have my nieces and nephews and they have these big goals and I get to show them that there they can do and they're able to do it and it makes me feel really good," Vassell said.
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