As a southern California high school student, Thavery Lay-Bounpraseuth had only a vague idea about what U.S. college life might be like. Her parents couldn’t answer her questions because their formal schooling was in their native Cambodia.
So Lay-Bounpraseuth can relate to the uncertainties among low- and moderate-income Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) teens and their families who attended one of the California State University college fairs aimed at expanding access to higher education by this population.
Called Journey to Success, the daylong fairs across the state consist of culturally tailored college preparation workshops, campus tours of the host universities and opportunities for one-on-one talks with recruiters of different Cal State, University of California and other institutions. The events are like a lifeline among the national efforts to improve rates of college enrollment, retention and graduation among underserved and educationally disadvantaged AAPIs.
For instance, only 13 percent of Hmong-Americans nationally hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. The California city of Fresno boasts one of the largest Hmong-American communities in this country.
At Fresno State University, where a first-time Journey to Success fair was held May 2, about 500 teens and their parents, many of them of Hmong descent, got a glimpse of their potential futures.
“We value this type of event because most of the high school students won’t have a chance to visit the other universities in person,” says Phong Yang, associate director of university outreach services at Fresno State. “This was it.”
