Young Men and Women of Excellence programs from around Seminole County got to experience a little bit of college life. The students went on several fall field trips where higher education was the focus.

On November 17^th, students attended the FAMU Educational Fair, held

at the Orlando Hilton.  The students got to view dynamic presentations by FAMU leadership, student government and theater students. They got to meet and talk with Mr. FAMU, Jordan Sealey, a son of Sanford and Seminole High School graduate. Some students even walked away from the event with scholarships to FAMU.

On November 18^th, the program took a field trip to the Bethune-Cookman University-Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University annual Central Florida event. “The Florida Classic” is a well-known weekend-long event that happens in Orlando

during the weekend before Thanksgiving. BCU and FAMU’s football teams square off. This matchup between the two historically black colleges is and has always been a huge deal. A major part of this event, is the battle of the bands. They compete during halftime of the football game. Students and alumni from both schools come out to support their schools.

Young Men and Women of Excellence programs all had the opportunity

to fellowship and enjoy the football game along with the festivities. In fact, some of the male students from Winter Springs and Seminole High came together and partook in a brotherly basketball game against each other. The boys used this as a chance to complement each other’s skills as well as do a little showing off. The female students, enjoyed each other while communicating, laughing, singing and dancing. Everyone eventually got a chance to talk to and fellowship with each other.

Different Young Men and Women of Excellence programs from Seminole County also took a trip to Tallahassee on December 1. This trip was sponsored by the TRIO Program and included tours of schools such as Florida State University, Tallahassee Community College, and Florida A&M University. During the FSU tour, students got the opportunity to sit in an actual college classroom and listen to upperclassmen give out valuable information to those looking to attend. Tallahassee Community College is a college that allows

students to get a start and potentially transfer to universities like FSU or FAMU after two years. After arriving at FAMU, the students got a chance to view the inside of the schools’ state-of-the-art home basketball court. Afterwards, everyone branched off with differe

nt FAMU students or administrators and explored the school. The school’s fantastic band put on an amazing outside show as the students were walking by. To finish the day off, students got to sit down and enjoy dinner with each other in FAMU’s very own buffet-styled cafeteria.

All around, these were inspirational trips and a great opportunity for Young Men and Women of Excellence students and teachers.