Young Black Scholars club prepares Carson students for college

Carson High School’s Young Black Scholars club brought 30 students to tour the University of California, San Diego on October 29 to experience the school’s campus life.

Since YBS is an African American organization, we were excited to learn about the African American Culture throughout campus. Although we didn’t find a high percentage of African Americans attending the campus, we learned that UCSD had many support systems like the Black Resource Center. We were encouraged to apply and maybe one day consider attending UCSD.

Students found many pros and cons about the school but overall it was a very informative trip.

The UCSD Black Resource Center was one of the first to be found in the country. This is a very big deal because it allowed other resource centers to flourish around the country. Even though this school is predominately white, diversity is encouraged. Therefore, it should still be considered by students.

“The best part about the trip in my opinion was being able to tour the campus and visit the Black Resource Center where we got to find a little more information about how they work and how helpful it is [seeing] that UCSD is predominately white,” senior Eriona Williams said.

Carson English teacher Joanna Cave has been the YBS advisor for two years. One of the main goals is to help students of color stay on track for college and live by the name Young Black Scholars.

Students go on college tours to expand their choices when applying. Inspiring students is one important component of the field trip, but Cave said she wanted all students to get a feel of what college life at UCSD would be like.

“We wanted to them to see the resources, the campus and how beautiful it was, and have an idea of what life would be like in San Diego if they decided to go there,” Cave said.

All schools should create a YBS club because African American students should feel like they have their own resource to go to. Most schools offer clubs to celebrate diversity, but you hardly ever see a club for just African Americans that focus on education and academic success. Therefore, this is a good movement all schools should push.