A College Shower Celebration for our 2021 Graduates!
The traditional Graduation March, shrieks of excitement, honking horns, and the beat of tambourines filled the air in Oakland and three surrounding cities as a caravan of decorated cars filled with Girls Inc. staff paraded to our graduates’ homes to congratulate them and wish them well in their bright futures. Every year, in celebration of their achievement, we shower our seniors with the essentials they need for college and post-secondary education. The majority of our girls are the first in their families to attend college and the support they receive from Girls Inc. goes a long way to ease the transition.
This year, due to shelter-in-place guidelines, we were not able to have our traditional College Shower celebration so we replicated our event from last year – a College Shower Car Parade. One of our scholars said that this kind of support was especially important during this time, and for her, “knowing that within our communities there is support for our girls and their successes reminds me that we are all in this together.”
Thirty girls from Girls Inc. of Alameda County are enrolled in postsecondary education in the fall. They completed our two-year College Access Now! (CAN!) Program which included SAT prep, college research, application support, financial aid application guidance, scholarship application assistance, and FAFSA help – all while navigating a pandemic!
To celebrate the girls as they move forward to the next step in their journey, each girl received a backpack containing items from our sponsors like a laptop computer, Exabeam webcam security cover, Fitbit watch, QUAY sunglasses, school supplies, H2O+ skincare, and a gift card to purchase dorm items or other necessary supplies. Thank you to our sponsors for making the College Shower Car Parade a huge success!
Over their years at Girls Inc. of Alameda County our girls have grown in confidence, nurtured dreams for the future, built lifelong networks, and made an impact on the community around them. We are proud to announce our seniors post-secondary next steps, listed below. Congratulations to our Girls Inc. girls and their futures ahead!
Girls Inc. of Alameda County
College Access Now (CAN!)
2021 Graduates
Amira J., Vanderbilt University
Amira P., Merritt Community College
Asha, Howard University
Ayana, Merritt Community College
Carolina, St. Olaf’s College
Chosang, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Cierra, University of California, Santa Cruz
Dallas, San Francisco State University
Elizabeth, University of California, Berkeley
Esmerelda, Trinity University
India, Merritt Community College
Itzel, University of California, Berkeley
Izba, University of California, Berkeley
Jasmin, University of California, Santa Barbara
Jazhane, University of California, Los Angeles
Jennifer, Chabot College
JoAnne, University of California, Los Angeles
Julie, San Francisco State University
Kathy, University of California, Davis
Lilette, University of California, Berkeley
Makayla, Arizona State University
Marlen, San Francisco State University
Montserrat, University of California, Berkeley
Morgan, Hampton University
Opal, Merritt Community College
Rosa, University of California, Davis
Saniyah, Howard University
Xochitl, University of California, Berkeley
Yariela, San Francisco State University