On December 17, twenty College Bound alumni visited our Wilmington Club high school center for a college and career panel event. College Bound was started in 2002 and since then, we raised the graduation rate of our members from 50%, when the program started, to 95% in 2014 with 95% of those graduates going to college.
Christian Velazquez graduated from high school and our College Bound program in 2012. Our case managers helped him earn a full-ride to Loyola Marymount University where he is a junior, earning his degree in engineering. During the panel event, Christian announced that he had just been offered a job as a project manager at Disney.
Ebony Perry is another alumnus who returned to share news about her success. She just graduated from Marymount California University in 2014 and began her career as a gallery manager and freelance multimedia artist. During her time at MCU, she developed her skills and impacted the San Pedro art scene with internships at the Grand Vision Foundation, Angels Gate Cultural Center, MCU Arcade Gallery and a spot in the prestigious Getty Multicultural Internship program.
Hearing stories like Christian and Ebony’s helped our students understand what they are striving for in graduating from high school and working towards successful futures. Despite any disadvantages that they may face, our College Bound team was able to help students just like them reach their full potential.