There’s an app for almost anything these days; that includes apps for finding scholarships, applying for financial aid, and exploring different career paths!
Built on the idea that these apps can be used to aid the college-going campaigns Peer Leaders are running at their schools, PeerForward organized an App-a-Thon for teams to learn helpful apps they can use with their peers to help reach their postsecondary goals.
On November 13, PeerForward invited D.C.-area teams from Washington Metropolitan High School, Theodore Roosevelt STAY High School, Ballou STAY High School, and Luke C. Moore High School to our national office for the 2019 App-a-Thon.
Divided into three stations, PeerForward staff and alumni facilitated tutorials for students to rotate through during the event. At the Scholar Dollar station, facilitators walked students through apps like Unigo, BigFuture, Scholly, and NerdWallet to discover more ways to secure financial aid for college. At the “Where They Are Now” station, PeerForward alumni Baja Poawui and Cornelius Williams hosted a Q&A where students were allowed to candidly ask questions about each alumni’s journey through college and beyond. Then, students had a chance to explore potential careers using RoadTrip Nation’s Career Exploration tool, allowing them to search real-life professionals that share the same passions and interests as they do, and see where those passions have landed others in their careers.
Amid all fun, snacks, and plenty of apps, Peer Leaders shared takeaways and brainstormed new campaign goals to take back to their school, bringing us back to the heart of the whole event: Peer Leaders learning new tools to help them – and their peers – along the college-going journey.
We couldn’t have said it better than Peer Leader Matwos Tadesse from Roosevelt STAY High School did at the App-a-Thon that day: “I want to keep helping my peers throughout my journey so I’m not the only one succeeding. I want to help my peers to make their life more meaningful and have access to a better life.”
