“Cropped for Success,” SIFE’s partnership with UF’s College Reach-Out Program (CROP), held its second annual A Day in the Real World Conference on January 22, 2011. This year was the “College Edition.” –By Roberta O. Roberts, UFSIFE Project Captain
Will your Facebook or Twitter profile help you or hinder you from getting a job? Teens found out the answer to this question and more through the second annual “Day in the Real World: College Edition” student conference hosted by UF’s College Reach-Out Program (CROP) and Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE).
The conference ran from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Norman Hall with sessions on topics relevant to today’s teens addressing Internet etiquette, dressing for success, entrepreneurship, academic achievement, money management and healthy relationships. Students participated in interactive sessions featuring a fashion show of what to wear and what not to wear for various occasions, a “real talk” session about college life with UF students, an impromptu entrepreneurship competition and more. The conference was filled with surprises along the way, including random prizes for demonstrating leadership, student presentations and two book awards of $75 each to high-performing high school students.
More than 100 middle and high school students from various counties, including Alachua, Levy, and Putnam counties, have attended the last two conferences in the past year (February 2010 to January 2011).
The criteria for this project’s target audience includes:
- Low-income family background
- Low GPA
- Low FCAT scores
- Would—be first generation in college student
Evaluation/Results from January 2011 Conference
Learning
Pre-Evaluation
42.5% of students said they had previously made a budget
10% of students said they had inappropriate content on the Facebook and/or Twitter
20% of the students said they knew what the FAFSA was
Post-Evaluation
98% of students said they now had experience making a budget
92% of students said they will change inappropriate content on their Facebook and/or Twitter 66% of students said they now know what the FAFSA is
Behavior
92% of students said they will change inappropriate content on their Facebook and/or Twitter 80% of students said they are now interested in entrepreneurship as a result of this conference. 98% of students said they will now think about the “vibe” they give off with my clothing choice (Dress for Success workshop)
Results
Overall, a majority of the students gained the knowledge needed to meet the objectives we had set forth for each session:
- To know what inappropriate social media content is and why they shouldn’t have it
- To be interested in entrepreneurship
- To have a better idea of what to expect in college (98% in post-evaluation from 82.5% in pre-evaluation)
- To think about the image they portray with their clothing choices
- To give them experience making a budget