Not everyone has access to the resources they need to succeed in college. Whether that’s because of poverty, disability, or lack of knowledge, TRIO Student Support Services, also known as TRIO or SSS, aims to be that resource.
“If you were a member of this program, you would be able to, number one, have access to textbooks. Number two, have access to technology. Number three, have access to scholarships that are exclusively for SSS participants,” Linda Rhone, TRIO’s executive director for the college readiness and retention program, said.
When she first attempted college, Rhone was academically dismissed due to poor grades. It was through application and perseverance that she was able to return to Wichita State and get her degree. Now, Rhone has been in the field of education for 30 years and taught at the K-12 and college levels.
“From the time that I got back in college until the time that I defended my doctoral dissertation, I ran like something was after me,” Rhone said. “And the only thing I can attribute it to is I just had something rise up inside of me that made me say, ‘You know what? I’m being given a chance.’”
Now Rhone works to help students have that same chance as part of TRIO. As a federally funded program, TRIO’s goal is to help students make the most out of their college experiences and engage outside the classroom.
“The federal government wants … for people to learn alternative paths to use for their degrees. Get some experience. Do some mock interviews. Get yourself a couple of versions of your resume. Get out there and do a short internship if you can. Do some sort of community-based thing. Get a mentor and let that person let you shadow them. You’ll need some substance, more than just saying, ‘Here you go, I got a degree,’” Rhone said.
Chelsea Martinez, the communications, marketing and academic advising specialist for TRIO, explained that the program helps students meet these federal goals by hosting workshops.
“Our workshops are to help increase their academic and life skill development,” Martinez said. “We’ve also done mental health workshops, we do a lot of resume writing, and we focus on financial literacy, specifically, and employability skills,” Martinez said.
Bringing a national speaker
In March, nationally recognized speaker Joshua Fredenburg hosted a workshop organized by TRIO, which was designed to help students identify their interests and make the most out of their college experiences.
“Here’s the challenge: How many of your friends have actually taken the time to sit down and ask themselves, ‘What are my seeds of greatness on the inside? What is it that I possess?’” Fredenburg said.
Born and raised in the Bay Area, Fredenburg dreamed of becoming a professional basketball player when he started college at California State University, Long Beach but didn’t make the team. Unable to play basketball professionally, he relied on two pieces of advice from his grandmother to find a new direction.
“The first one is this: that failure is a preparation for success. But this is the big one: rejection is direction … anytime you are rejected, anytime a door is closed, if you have the right perspective, it can be a setup for something great,” Fredenburg said.
Unexpectedly, Fredenburg found that opportunity in a public speaking class.
“I’m standing in the classroom, and I give my presentation and I’m speaking, and I’m like ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh my gosh. I’m so amazing.’ And I get an A in the class,” he said. “But the A wasn’t what was most powerful. What was most powerful is I unlocked a gift that I always had, that I never knew about.”
Fredenburg knew he not only had a gift for speaking but a passion for it, too. He explained that the next thing he did was get actively involved in his campus community and took every opportunity to speak. He said that if he hadn’t failed to join the basketball team, he would never have discovered public speaking.
“The question is, are you taking advantage of the opportunities that are available to you as a college student while you were in school?” Fredenburg said. “Just because you have a degree does not guarantee you a great career. I know it’s not popular, but it’s true. You can have the paper, but not have a job,” Fredenburg said.
He said that giving every speech “110%,” no matter how many people watch him, has helped him develop his skills.
“That’s the pinnacle of vision, when your gift meets your passion, and your passion meets what you would do for free, and what you do for free meets what you would do to help others,” Fredenburg said.
Both Fredenburg and TRIO representatives emphasized the importance of using the resources college provides to prepare outside of the classroom for future careers.
Information about upcoming TRIO Student Support Services events can be found on their Facebook and Instagram.
