BAYTOWN, TX — Nearly 300 middle and high school students from throughout the Houston region recently gathered at Lee College for the College and Career Roadshow, a unique one-day conference where students were encouraged to share their dreams for the future and given tools to start making those dreams a reality.
Presented by leadership training and development company Paradigm Shift and its partners, the roadshow is a traveling college and career fair that includes everything from motivational speakers and success seminars to ACT college readiness exam prep sessions, team-building activities, business leadership panels and interview and resume workshops. Students also had the opportunity to take a campus tour and learn more about all that Lee College has to offer.
After starting their day with games and icebreakers at the Performing Arts Center, the students were divided into two groups according to grade level and taken through workshops and panel discussions to explore what it means to be a leader; how to succeed in college and build a career; how to identify and set goals for the future; how to ace the ACT; and more.
“Our main goal is to get students excited and prepared for post-secondary education or careers,” said Rachel Mayo, conferences and special event coordinator for Paradigm Shift. “We want students who might not otherwise get this kind of opportunity to know they’re not limited in what they can do. The students love it; our facilitators do a great job of making it a safe space to feel, share and learn.”
Students traveled from as far away as Galveston and beyond to attend the roadshow at Lee College. To make the event more accessible for students in the college service area, the Student and Career Employment Office worked with the Lee College Foundation and Patients ER to provide scholarships to about 100 local youths.