Mishayla Torres-Pinales and Emelie Hemingway, both of Western Harnett High School, 你是“向上跳跃”计划的参与者之一，参加了一个周六的会议，重点是金融知识和正规买球app十佳排行信息.
桑福德——在所有你可能期望高中生在周六早上做的事情中, attending a workshop on personal finance probably wouldn't make the top of your list.
但这正是在中央卡罗莱纳社区学院哈尼特主校区的一个大会议室里发生的事情, where more than 75 Upward Bound participants were gathering for a pre-workshop snack, 重新建立友谊，并准备好进入“财务健康”主题的两场会议的第一场."
上进是一个联邦政府资助的项目，旨在帮助学生准备申请大学，并在他们到达校园后享受成功. 对该计划感兴趣的家庭必须申请并满足该计划的资格要求.
Before this January workshop began, 乔丹·卡特——现任推荐正规买球平台上进项目总监——开始了快节奏的学习, 三分钟的独白，列出每个人在新学期开始时需要做的具体事情. Then she began wrapping it up.
"What's the point of Upward Bound?" she asked without even a pause.
"Going to college!" came the response.
And then there was time for a celebration. Carter announced that one of the students in the room, Eric Flores of Harnett Central High School, had just been announced as a nominee for the Park Scholarship, a prestigious, four-year, full-ride at N.C. State University.
The Big Attraction
Though the goal is to help participants get into college, the financial workshop isn't only about college. Granted, one of the two sessions was about paying for a higher education; high school juniors and seniors heard from Crystal Baker, an assistant director for financial aid at Campbell University, who explained how the entire process worked. But while all of that was happening in a packed computer lab down the hall, 一年级和二年级的学生坐在大会议室后面的几排桌子旁，从桑福德第一地平线银行(First Horizon Bank)的露辛达·麦克莱恩(Lucinda McLean)那里接受信贷和资金管理的培训, 大龄学生在休息后和午餐前参加了一个会议，结束了庆祝活动.
星期六上午的研讨会要求学生在学年期间每月一次向上跳跃, 谁通过填写一份简短的申请表和一页关于他们兴趣的个人陈述来申请参加免费项目, ambitions and goals after high school. Once admitted, everything is free: meals, 从李县和哈内特县的高中到周六的讲习班，甚至是交通, the region 推荐正规买球平台 Upward Bound serves. (虽然该学院也在查塔姆市运营，但另一个“向上发展”项目为该县服务.)
Offerings are fairly extensive. One of the most popular is a six-week summer, residential program, held last year at N.C. State University, 在这里，大约有40名学生通过住在校园里，参加非学分课程来感受大学生活，这些课程旨在帮助他们将上一学年学到的知识应用到即将到来的学术学习中. For rising seniors, “向上束缚”还帮助学生安排暑期实习，实习领域通常是在他们家附近的律师事务所, medical facilities and accounting offices. 刚毕业的学生甚至可以在大一开始前就选修大学课程以获得学分.
And then there are cultural enrichment trips, which appear to be one of the big attractions for many Upward Bound students. Each summer ends with a trip to places like Wilmington, Charleston or Chicago, 学生们花几天时间体验自己社区以外的生活，参观不同类型的大学.
Kevin Pearson, 谁在最近被任命为大学入学服务主任之前领导推荐正规买球平台向上发展, says many people have heard about Upward Bound, but may not know everything it offers. 这是因为有太多关于教育选择的信息在传播——像双录取和大学预科课程这样的机会.
But once they find out about Upward Bound, people can be astonished. “他们通常知道的是，‘向上跳跃’是一个帮助学生上大学的项目," Pearson says. "But when we talk to people in the community and give people specific information, 他们无法相信这个项目有多棒，他们无法相信它完全免费提供给学生和他们的家庭. That's when people become energized with the program and realize all of its benefits."
皮尔森是一个热情的倡导者，因为他看到了上进学生所享受的成功. When he completed one report last year, 皮尔森发现，66%的推荐正规买球平台“向上跳跃”项目参与者在六年内大学毕业, a statistic that must be reported as part of the federal grant. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, that is two percentage points higher than the overall national graduation rate. 尤其是当上进的学生没有很多大学生所享有的家庭和经济优势时. 如果你考虑到这个群体的最初目标只有45%，那就更好了.
But Pearson also is an advocate because he has a deep, personal understanding of what this experience can do. “20多年前，我是‘向上跳跃’的参与者，这为我上大学提供了所需的资金," he said. “如果没有‘向上跳跃’，我就上不了大学，所以我就是一个活生生的典型例子."
An Exciting Slap
米萨拉·托雷斯(Mishayla Torres)和埃米莉·海明威(Emelie Hemingway)都在看到该项目对姐弟姐妹的帮助后申请了“向上跳跃”. 这两位来自西部哈内特高中的高年级学生在“向上跳跃”聚会之前并不认识对方, but have become good friends ever since. Because neither knew much about the college application process, Upward Bound helped them navigate those complexities, but also explore new opportunities and eventually find their paths.
That wasn't a given. Mishayla说，她很确定的一件事是，她并不是真的想做向上跳跃. At least, at first.
"But this program did wake me up; it slapped me into reality," she says. "I had good grades, but I didn't know or care about going to university. I was kind of lost. And then this helped me find people with my same interests, who are smarter than me and maybe want to compete more, and who would motivate me into being the best version of myself."
Both students appreciated the wealth of resources available, 包括亲自接触了解大学情况的专家，他们可以一对一地回答问题.
可能有很多不同的原因，为什么学生参加向上跳跃，因为有不同的学生. 尽管如此，还是出现了一些共同的线索:许多人提到了丰富的资源和出城旅行. Of course, you're never far from someone reminding you that everything is free.
But for many, one important -- and often unexpected -- benefit is less tangible. It's something that doesn't appear in recruiting ads, but makes life so much better. 这就是在一个学者群体中度过几年可以打开各种新视角和机会的原因. That's one thing about Upward Bound that Emelie wanted people to know.
“我不会对很多不同的事物持开放态度，也不会愿意分享我的经历," she says, looking back over a journey she began with an application several years ago. "Before the program, I was very reclusive and introverted. I really wanted to grow out my shell. Being in a community with different people and different ideas, who want to do different things, it's really exciting."
Learn more about the Upward Bound program at z8il.thebetterlife.net/ub.
Mishayla Torres-Pinales and Emelie Hemingway, both of Western Harnett High School, 你是“向上跳跃”计划的参与者之一，参加了一个周六的会议，重点是金融知识和正规买球app十佳排行信息.
Kristyana Tovar-Flores, an Upward Bound participant from Southern Lee High School, attends a Saturday Session focused on financial literacy and financial aid information.
Kevin Pearson, 在最近被任命为大学入学服务主任之前，他领导了中央卡罗来纳社区学院向上发展项目, 在金融知识和财政援助信息会议上向上进学生讲话.