Imagine you’re a high school student who was just handed an $8,000 check for one month’s pay.
Now imagine you get to do things like put a down payment on a house or a car, and purchase clothing, food and other necessities.
After that, you get to buy the fun stuff like vacations, Jacuzzis and bling.
That’s exactly what some New Orleans public high school students got to do last month, courtesy of the School of Mass Communication’s Public Relations Students Society of America, or PRSSA, members.
The public relations students, under the guidance of Cathy Rogers, associate professor in the School of Mass Communication, started a campaign for the Annual PRSSA Bateman Competition called “The Bling Starts Here.”
The here they’re referring to is college. The Loyola students gave the high school kids at Warren Easton and Walter L. Cohen a chance to see what a difference a college education could make.
You see, not everybody got an $8,000 check. Some students, who had a high school education or less, earned only $1,500 for their month’s salary.
They couldn’t put a down payment on a house. They had to rent an inexpensive apartment instead. They couldn’t afford to consider even the least expensive car because insurance rates and gas prices made that impossible on their salary. They had to pay utilities. Some of which had to wait.
And they could only enjoy the “bling” vicariously through their college-educated friends.
But the high school students didn’t have to accept that fate.
The PRSSA members consulted with Vice President of Enrollment Management and Associate Provost, Sal Liberto, and brought in a Loyola mass communication professor to teach the youngsters to write college entrance essays.
Their essays were supposed to set them apart. They were supposed to be inspiring. They were both.
One student wrote about his cousin who had been dealing drugs. The cousin warned the young man to get an education. He said, “You deserve a better life than mine.” Days later, the cousin was shot and killed. The student wrote that every time he thinks about wanting to drop out of school, he hears his cousin’s words.
Another student’s mom died of cancer. Her mother had been her cheerleader throughout her life. The mother’s dying wish was for her daughter to complete college. Her daughter wrote that she intends to do just that.
One student didn’t allow us to read his letter aloud. He wanted to become a police officer, but said his friends wouldn’t understand. We’ve already spoken to some ranking officers with New Orleans Police Department to help that student’s dream come true.
The Loyola students didn’t stop there. With the help of Financial Aid Director Cathy Simoneaux, the PRSSA members were able to hand out boxes of useful financial aid information.
The high school students were eager to get their hands on another puzzle piece that would lead them to college.
It didn’t end in their classrooms either. They got to visit Loyola’s campus for a day to see what college is really like.
They’d been hearing a lot about colleges and universities from their teachers, so much so that when asked who was planning on attending, the majority of them raised their hands.
The high school students behind them won’t have to worry about missing out on the bling program just because the public relations students will be graduating soon.
Brian Dirden, a mass communication major who volunteered with the program, has convinced his fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, to continue the bling project … which means The Bling Starts Here … again!
Lisa Martin is an instructor in the School of Mass Communication and the director of the Center for Intercultural Understanding. She can be reached at [email protected].
