Native American high school students prepare for their future in higher education at the 2023 Cherokee Nation College Prep Institute.
Later this month, Rogers State University’s Claremore campus will host 40 Native American high school students for a week of information and preparation to help them reach their full academic potential.
Slated for July 21-25, the Cherokee Nation College Prep Institute is an immersive summer camp that helps high school juniors and seniors prepare for their future in higher education. The camp is operated by the Cherokee Nation Foundation.
Working with subject matter experts and admissions officers, students will explore schools of interest, learn how to complete college applications and work to identify available scholarship opportunities.
According to RSU Campus Visits and Events Coordinator Natalia Sumner, the week is an opportunity for Native American students to gain insight into how to prepare for higher education.
“Basically, it’s a week during which high school juniors and seniors – mostly seniors – stay in our dorms and prepare for the college application process. This includes mock interviews, resume building workshops, and college essay writing, with presentations from the other colleges in attendance,” Sumner said.
In addition to RSU, regional and several Ivy League universities participating in the week will include Northeastern State University, Oklahoma State University, Cornell University, University of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Princeton University, and more.
Although Sumner said RSU will be the institution hosting the institute, she has experienced the camp before, both as a student, and later, as a recruiter (for RSU).
“I have a unique perspective in that I took part in the camp when I was still a high school student myself, back in 2017,” she said. “As I was a first-generation college student, I really didn’t know how to begin the process, what to do, which colleges would be obtainable to me. It was overwhelming,” she said. “The camp really helped me to focus on what my steps to college were, how to accomplish them, and as I went through the program, how to set goals for myself, and more. This camp equips students with knowledge, helps them set a timeline to navigate their senior year, and lets them know what they should do to stand out when applying to colleges.”
Sumner said the camp also helped college feel more accessible to her, whereas before the camp, it felt largely inaccessible.
Information about scholarships and how to apply for them, including potential scholarships from the Cherokee Nation and the RSU Foundation, among others, will be discussed.
Rogers State University offers an Associate of Arts in Native American studies, a degree option which enhances a student’s understanding of Native American culture, history, spirituality, language, art, and contemporary tribal issues.
Additionally, RSU is home to the Native American Student Association (NASA), which promotes a better understanding of Native American students and people of the school, using its resources and talents to promote goodwill and fellowship, to host extracurricular activities on and off campus, and to encourage students to actively study his or her native background.
For more information about the Cherokee Nation Foundation and its College Prep Institute, visit www.cherokeenationfoundation.org.
For more information about RSU’s Native American Student Association, email [email protected].