‘Getting them ready to thrive’: Calvin University program introduces minority students to college

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Ninety high schoolers graduated Wednesday from a Calvin University summer program that helps introduce minority students to college life.

The Entrada Scholars Program has been around for decades. For four weeks, high school juniors and seniors live on campus together and take a college course, guided by an academic mentor.

“Entrada is a space that invites students who are at the point where they are considering college and going into college and giving them a space to prepare and also to have a support system,” Martin Austin, program director of the College Access Programs Office, said. “…It’s a holistic approach to getting them ready to thrive as people — not just students, but as a whole person.”

Entrada graduate Sophia Taylor-Smit, a rising high school senior who came to Calvin University from Seattle, told News 8 she was walking away from the program with “an eagerness for college.”

“I’m going to be ready to rock the world when I go on to college,” she said. “I’m going to be super excited, knowing what to expect and how to prepare for that.”

This year, participants came to Calvin from 15 different states and six different countries, according to the university.

“Community was definitely the biggest aspect of this program. There were about 90 scholars, and all of us got to know each other by name, which was super important. All of us coming from different backgrounds — some from Ghana, South Korea, some from the other side of the state here in Michigan too, all these different nationalities and different diversities and ethnic backgrounds,” Taylor-Smit said. “It brought us all together. It showed us how we can impact each other while also impacting the region we’re from.”

“Within a month, they can really become lifelong friends,” Austin told News 8.

Entrada graduates also get a $4,000 scholarship for each year they attend Calvin University.

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