For many of the high school students in attendance, it was their second graduation ceremony in the past month, but they're hoping it won't be their last.

"College awaits, and I know that this is just the start to our lives," Laurel High School graduate Aditi Thanki said at the 20th annual First Generation College Bound graduation ceremony held June 16 at the University of Maryland Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center.

Every year, the program holds its own graduation ceremony to honor those students that the program has helped find their way to college.

FGCB has helped more than 70 high school graduates in the class of 2010 get into college and find a way to finance it. About half of the graduates are from Laurel High.

"It helped me stay on track and get where I needed to go," Laurel High graduate Adebisi Dayo-Otukanrin said about the organization, adding that it taught him how to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA -- a required form for students seeking financial aid -- and how to apply for financial aid. He will be attending Bowie State University.

Most FGCB participants become the first in their family to attend college.

"The idea of me being the first one in my family to graduate always motivated me even more," said Justin Stewart, an FGCB alumnus who recently graduated from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore with a bachelor's degree in English.

And for some students, the organization is the reason they desired to go to college at all.

"It actually changed my mind about going to college," said Laurel High graduate Lakesha Davis, who will be at Prince George's Community College in the fall. "It really motivated me to go on and do other things."

FGCB was started 20 years ago by Laurel resident Joseph Fisher, who was inspired to give back by his personal experience struggling with the decision whether or not he should go to college.

"I didn't know I could go to college until my track coach made me aware of it," he said.

After Fisher attended Catholic University on an athletic scholarship for his undergraduate degree, he went on to earn a master's degree in urban education from Morgan State University. His college experiences made him realize there are a lot of resources out there that young, low-income students are unaware of, so he made it his mission to help educate those students in the college application process.

"Mr. Fisher, in the early days, walked around door-to-door in the neighborhoods to get people involved," said Bridget Akintunde, a 2001 Laurel High graduate and FGCB alumnus who was mistress of ceremonies June 16.

"It wasn't easy, and I knew that going in," Fisher said.

When high school students graduate and go on to college, the organization makes every effort to stay in touch with them and help them get through their undergraduate degrees and, in some instances, helps them apply for graduate school.

FGCB "helps students go through the process of applying to college, but does not leave" those they have helped, Akintunde said. "We keep in contact with you constantly."

Looking back at the past 20 years, Fisher measures his program's effectiveness by saying the organization has encouraged more than 800 students to attend college, and more than 200 of those students have graduated from college.

"Once those kids began getting their bachelor's degrees from college, that's when the results really began to show," Fisher said.

But this isn't the end for Fisher or FGCB. "I'm commited; I'm not going to stop after 20 years," he said. "I want to continue for the next generation."

This year's speaker was ABC 7 news anchor Leon Harris, who talked about the impact teachers and mentors had in his life. He said he was a National Merit Scholar "only because I had a couple of Joe Fishers in my life, in my school, who told me you can do this."

Harris advised the graduates to make smart choices in college and to ignore people who tell them what they can't do.

"When you leave here, the only thing that you have to do for the next four years is put the right people around you and never ever stop trying to find out what else you're good at," he said.

Prince George's County Council Chair Tom Dernoga attended the graduation, calling FGCB "a great effort" and announced that the county would be giving the organization a $3,000 grant.

Applying for college was hard, Dernoga said, "and I didn't have Joe Fisher chasing me around the neighborhood making sure I was doing what I needed to do."

The highlight of the program for many was the heartfelt reflection given by Dontra Scott, a FGCB alumnus who just graduated from Howard University with a doctor of dental surgery degree.

Scott said he met Fisher 13 years ago, calling him a "man who changed my life" and someone who taught him that "anything is possible."

He was so appreciative of what Fisher helped him accomplish, tears welled in his eyes as he told his story.

"If I told him (Fisher) I wanted to be a doctor, he didn't laugh at me," Scott said.

After the ceremony Scott summed up what FGCB really means to young students.

"It just gives people, who might not have any hope as far as education, a chance," he said.

---

user comments (0)