My experience participating in TRIO

This past weekend marked the 15th Annual West Virginia Student Leadership Conference. Pitt’s Student Support Services (SSS), a college TRIO program, sponsored over a dozen Pitt students to attend. We bussed out of Pittsburgh just before 3pm and arrived before 6pm. Upon entering the dining hall, we were met with a few hundred other students from several states—some even drove all the way from Oklahoma.

Pitt SSS students attending the Anne Crum Awards Banquet.

The atmosphere pulsed with excitement and camaraderie. TRIO students from senior high school and from college united together to celebrate the programs improving our education and to cultivate our leadership qualities.

But now for some background. TRIO refers to eight federally funded programs: seven for students and Veterans in middle school, high school, and college, and one for the program administrators. These are Federal outreach and student services programs designed to identify and provide services for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, including low-income individuals, first-generation college students, and individuals with disabilities.

Students were asked to write one positive quality inside the “Leadership Man” and a negative one outside.

College students attending the conference came from their schools’ respective SSS programs, and high schoolers came from the Upward Bound (UB) and Talent Search (TS) programs. All of us were there to see yet another way these awesome programs could help us improve.

On each of the three days, we participated in Paradigm Shift sessions where we honed our teamwork and delegation skills, learned to think outside the box, and most importantly experienced the value of asking questions. After all, excellent communication skills are at the heart of proving to be a good leader.

Students worked on building teamwork and communication skills in one of multiple activities.

The Saturday session of the conference included a community service project. In the interest of giving back, we filled backpacks with various food items to help feed hungry children in the WV area which hosted our conference. During the service project, we each had a chance to share with the group other volunteering experiences we’d had over the years. Those who had yet to volunteer were by no means discouraged. On the contrary, each was motivated to look for opportunities like those discussed at the event, and each was encouraged to strive to give back to their own local community.

We had two guest speakers at the outset of the service project, both of whom worked with women’s shelters and the YWCA to provide food, shelter, and career services to women, children, and families in need. Our status as one human race eking out a living on this planet together was stressed—We need men, women, and children of all ages and backgrounds to help those who have fallen under impoverished times.

That night we attended the Anne Crum Awards Banquet where students from each program in attendance were recognized for their exemplary leadership and awarded scholarships. The late Anne Crum was a wonderful TRIO supporter throughout her life, working for multiple TRIO programs at multiple institutions. She shined a bright light on others’ lives and helped many students along their educational paths.

The Sunday morning session ended on a powerful note, a quote from The Lorax:

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.

Those administering the TRIO program care so much about their ability to better us students’ lives, and emphasis was placed on just how well we, in turn, can affect change.

So, if you are a TRIO student or graduate, or if you know someone who is, please remember to use the hashtag: #TrioWorks. To renew our funding, we need to show how TRIO positively affects our lives, and how college (or high school) without TRIO would not even be possible for many.

#TrioWorks!