Driving down the Road To College

While a lot of teens have aspirations to attend universities, many of them don’t actually know where to begin. Some may have financial struggles and are not sure how to get scholarships. 

That’s where the Road To College program comes in. The program helps teach young students how to get into college, the benefits of college, how to attain scholarships and much more.

Road To College leader Gonzalo Robles has been with the program since WFISD included it in 2014.

“We mainly serve first-generation college students, but we help any students willing to follow our high expectations,” Robles said “Our vision is to foster the next generation of well-educated, well-trained leaders.”

The program starts talking to students as early as fifth grade. Junior Emmanuel Gonzalez first heard about the program during middle school.

“I joined the program because I had heard about it from some friends, but had kind of brushed it off,” Gonzalez said. “Until Mrs. (Stephanie) Robles came to our middle schools to talk about it, and I thought it seemed kind of cool and that I could be a part of it.”

Before joining the program, Gonzales was lost when it came to getting into college.

“I had no idea what I was going to do for college, no clue where to start. I just kind of thought, ‘OK, I’ll go to college.’ That was it,” Gonzalez said. “That was the baseline, but I had no idea how I was going to do that or get prepared.”

The regular meetings and summer program all helped Gonzalez get a better understanding of the college process.

“We encourage students to take advanced classes starting in the sixth grade because data shows students that take advanced classes are more likely to succeed in college,” Robles said. “We provide monthly tutorials and our college mentors visit with our students weekly.”

Through the program Gonzalez has met quite a few important people in nearby colleges, and also got the opportunity to meet with someone even more influential.

“I actually met the Texas governor once, and got to shake his hand. I was really nervous, it was pretty cool,” Gonzalez said. “I met principals and vice principals at MSU, and there was so much knowledge that I know now, like I didn’t know what a scholarship was before. I had no idea what the PSAT was for until I really joined it.”

The program currently has 340 students participating in the WFISD, and is planning on continuing to help support the community in Wichita Falls and all across Texas and Florida.