By Fox23.com News Staff
TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa Community College’s (TCC) TRIO Day celebrated the positive impact federally funded TRIO programs have had on helping students access higher education.
“TRIO is a national federal program,” explained Tulsa Deputy Mayor Krystal Reyes. “It was actually started in 1965. It was a set of programs to help individuals get on a path to economic mobility, so getting into college, getting through college…There are a bunch of programs within the TRIO family and they’ve been around, federally funded and they operate through higher education institutions and of course with community partners that provide support services.”
As a previous recipient of a TRIO program, Reyes said she personally knows the impact these programs make in the lives of students.
“Upward Bound was a program that impacted me when I was in high school. It continued and came with me throughout my college and career. It stays with you because it’s a program that helped you feel like you could achieve your dreams. When I see the students here, they all have dreams and they all told someone their dream. That’s what I share: tell someone your dreams because people want to help you.”
One student following her dreams is TCC freshman and TRIO recipient Abby Vaughn.
“My mom’s a single mom, so it’s just her and I. It’s always just been her and I and so money’s kind of been a struggle. She’s never really shown it because she’s always supported me no matter what I’ve done, but this has been huge. I mean, I don’t have to work a job this semester when I’m taking my 15 credit hours. I can just focus on school and not have to worry about it. It’s really great.”
Vaughn explained how she entered the program and the specific career she’s working towards.
“They actually had an email sent out. It was a short essay scholarship, so it was about 300 to 450 words and we wrote a personal story about what our career would do for us. I wrote about my future career in dental hygiene, how the scholarship would take off a lot of pressure for my mom and I, so I didn’t have to focus on working. I could just focus and dedicate myself to school.”
She said she’s grateful to have been accepted into the program for the semester.
“I would just like to thank the TRIO program. This has been such a blessing and everybody in the program has been so sweet and so nice to reach out to me and congratulate me and invite me to everything. It’s been so accessible too. They really want to support not only the community, but you as an individual.”
Deputy Mayor Reyes said TRIO programs are a critical part of supporting economic mobility in the Tulsa area.
To learn more about TCC’s TRIO programs, click here.
