During the course of this year the “Color Your World” mural project, inspired by “Art Miles”, began. Murals have a way of bringing groups of people together to work towards a common goal; in this case the overwhelming theme was Peace. Project after project, both the university students and members of the Linda Vista community centers discussed peaceful ways to make change in their neighborhood. For the youth, the opportunity to have their beliefs validated and their ideas honored, made the interaction with college students more meaningful. To get to know someone who goes to college, who values them and shows them that college is a place where voices are heard and opinions matter brings optimism to a group of youths who come from families that have never been to college, some not even finishing high school. It isn’t enough to take a group of students, show them how to fill out forms and pass test, we need to show them how they can be engaged. That is what the “Color Your World” project set out to accomplish: to bring passion to higher learning. All children are creative and to allow them the opportunity to express themselves made engagement that much easier.

Peace Day was a success. It engaged both university students and Linda Vista Youth in poetry reading, music and crane folding. It brought awareness to the violence in the world and most of all, we felt as if we were doing something that had meaning. Bringing youth to college is an important mission to undertake. Beyond the tests, the forms, and the admission process is the heart of what brings youth to college: passion, interest and pride.