An Unlikely Lesson: What College Summit Did for Me

By Jacob Hayhurst

Tears, fears, and the memories made are what I recall the most about all my College Summit experiences. Even though I was presented with many tools and resources to lead my peers to college effectively, the passion I have for the program is based upon the things you cannot learn in a classroom. I have learned to embrace people for their individuality, and not judge them based upon an outward appearance. The program has taught me how to communicate effectively by being specific and by clarifying. I once hid what I truly thought, not wanting to hurt anyone’s feelings, but now I can voice my opinions and share them in a respectful way that will help with personal growth. College Summit has changed the way I look at the world not just by my participation in the curriculum at school during my senior year or by my attendance at the summer workshop but also by the stated and implied message of serving others.   It is funny that I was originally motivated to participate in College Summit because I thought it would help with the process of college admissions and because I was required to do the assignments as a part of my senior English class.  I had no idea what I would come to get out of the program and how it continues to mold me.  I have learned a remarkable lesson that I am not sure College Summit ever set out to teach me – my capacity for personal growth by helping others.

The impact College Summit has had on my life is too vast to be narrowed down to one moment; my continued participation in various aspects of the program shows the ways it encourages my growth and service to others through my experiences.   I left my Peer Leader workshop at Glenville State in summer of 2008, and rode home on a large school bus. Just as I felt as though the weekend could never be surpassed in the number of life changing moments, I was wrong.  I was soon asked to speak to the West Virginia Senate Education Committee to gain support for the program, and I was compelled to speak from my heart about the impact of College Summit on my school.  Once again I felt as though this was going to be as good as it got, and once again I was wrong. I spent two years believing that with every opportunity presented I was finished growing through the program. In this summer of 2010, I had the chance to come back to several College Summit workshops to serve as an Alumni Leader. I now realize that the best is always yet to come. With every Peer Leader I meet, every writing session I sit in on, and every banquet I attend where the hard work of all the students is acknowledged, I am forever evolving – evolving into the person I hope to become.

Without the regional and national College Summit team and the opportunities afforded me by the College Summit program, I would not be where I am today. All of the knowledge I have learned and the contacts I have made can never be robbed from me.  One of College Summit’s mottoes is “So that all students who can make it in college make it to college.”  I have always known I was going to college, but I have witnessed the program make that difference for many of my peers.  For me College Summit has eased the college-going process and has enriched my life by showing me the value of helping others and sharing my dreams and goals with them.  I am eternally grateful to the program for giving students like me the chance not only to make it to college, but to find out who we are along the way.