Dream Project awards $9,000 to incoming freshmen

Huge banners with 3-foot-tall headshots of high school seniors lined the walls of the Walker-Ames Room in Kane Hall Thursday night. The students were awarded $9,000 from the UW’s Dream Project.

The seniors, who were recipients of the “Living the Dream” scholarship, were rather sheepish about having their pictures plastered all over the room. Some students were surprised that their photos will be on display at Mary Gates Hall for the next two weeks.

“The ceremony was great,” said junior Sam Lim, a member of the Dream Project leadership team. “It was emotionally powerful for everyone.”

The Dream Project is a community outreach program in which UW students work with first-generation and low-income high school students to complete all the necessary steps to apply to and get into college.

The UW students have the two-credit class twice a week, once when they meet all together on campus and once when they meet in smaller groups at the high school in which they’re serving. More than 60 UW students are involved in the project.

“They started our junior year — helped with college applications, essays, other applications,” said Dustin Dacuan, a Renton High School senior. “They helped us figure out what to do with ourselves.”

Dacuan mentioned one weekend in November when the high school students worked with UW project members on college preparations for seven hours a day. There was also a summer SAT prep course that most of the high school students went through.

Even with the tutors and the extra help, the college application process was rough.

Italiana Hughes, another senior from Renton High School, said that writing the personal statement was the hardest part.

“I went through eight drafts,” she said.

Senior Jessy Brown, from the Academy of Citizenship and Empowerment, said that filling out all the paperwork was the biggest challenge for her. And it didn’t end when she got into college.

“After I was accepted, I had to do financial aid [and] housing forms — it was intimidating,” she said.

For Dacuan, the hardest part of the process is also one of the most exciting.

“It’s trying out all there is: UW’s so big, so many opportunities,” he said. “It’s just taking a big step and seeing where you fall.”

Lim said he’s enjoyed watching how the students become more sure of themselves throughout the process. Lim also worked as a member of the Dream Project last year.

“It’s been amazing to see the growth of the students,” he said. “They were juniors when I first met them.”

Lim said he’s seen the students transform from high school students who didn’t really know who they wanted to be to college-bound students with a sense of purpose.

“That, to me, is just very rewarding,” he said.

Lim was also excited to hear the students say during the awards ceremony that they’re looking forward to being a part of the Dream Project next year as students at the UW.

“That’s part of the way we keep the Dream Project going,” he said. “These kids come through and want to give back to their community.”