Popular program continues to draw Seaside high school students to CSUMB

Extracting DNA in a chemistry lab to find evidence for an imaginary crime scenario is among many activities enjoyed by Seaside high school students during the Imagine College Summer Scholar Institute. The annual event, now in its sixth year, is currently underway at CSUMB.

Imagine College brings nearly 150 Seaside high school students to CSUMB for a trio of one-week sessions. Nearly 70 percent of them come from families where no one has attended college.

The program aims to encourage students to think that college is a realistic possibility, and to help them pay for it. Each student enrolls for a five-day session and can choose one of several courses to pursue during the week: math 1, math 2, CSI chemistry, culinary arts or college prep. Current CSUMB students, and a few alumni, serve as teaching assistants or "mentors" for the students.

The cornerstone of the program continues to be the guarantee of a $4,000 scholarship to any student who graduates from Seaside High School with a 2.5-grade-point average, attends two weeks of Imagine College summer sessions while in high school and gets accepted to a college or university.

The scholarship money is again from a local resident. CSUMB and the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District are sponsoring the program.

Seventeen year-old Yvonne Nguyen, a Seaside high school student, is enrolled in the CSI chemistry course. She and her fellow students work diligently in a laboratory at the CSUMB College of Science, peering through microscopes and mixing solutions in vials. The highlight in the lab so far? Extracting oil from citrus fruits to make lip balm and lotion. “It smelled amazing,” Nguyen said with a smile.

Also part of the program, and very popular with students, are outdoor recreation activities such kayaking and the ropes course.

“This program opens doors for young students who have never set foot on a college campus,” said Chris Hawthorne, coordinator for Imagine College who works at CSUMB Early Outreach and Support Programs. “It provides hands-on experience and team-building – and allows them to actually see that a college education is possible.”