Sanger Impact Challenge Continued - Cornerstone High School Visit

Welcome back, future accounting superstars! You may recall my blog post from back in October about the Sanger Leadership Center Impact Challenge. During our orientation, the MAcc class designed a year-long plan and a one day event to encourage middle/high school students to explore different business careers, engage in professional development, and become college ready.

Our MAcc Student Association philanthropy committee has been working hard to implement this plan throughout the year, making trips about every other month to Cornerstone Middle and High School in Detroit to work with the students.

This month’s trip revolved around helping students talk about their experiences in a way that could be useful on a resume or college application. Part of Cornerstone’s innovative curriculum involves a mandatory internship. Every Wednesday, high students go out into the community and work at an internship to gain real world work experience. Students I worked with worked at a grocery store, temporary job agency, law office, and nursing home.

It was so wonderful to help the students think about creative ways to communicate the impact they had on the organizations they interned with. The kids had to list out challenges as well, and I was very entertained by these. Common struggles included being afraid to initiate conversations with coworkers who were much older than they were and having difficulty staying awake in a quiet office environment.

I was so impressed by how accomplished and articulate the students were. Most 9th and 10th graders have never worked before and these kids have an experience that most students don’t get until their first college internship! It was a great trip and very energizing to work with high schoolers. We will be Skyping the students next month to work with them on their resumes and they will be visiting Ross in April!

My experience as a MAcc Graduate Student Staff Assistant, designing the college readiness curriculum during the Impact Challenge, and working with the students at Cornerstone High School helped me realize that I really enjoy helping students figure out their college and career paths. Once I graduate and start my career, I will seek out opportunities to mentor students of all ages.

Best of luck as you prepare your applications and GO BLUE!