Alcorn State University. Mississippi State University. Jackson State University. Southern Miss. Mississippi College. Mississippi Valley State University. Ole Miss. Prairie View A and M. These are just some of the places that our upcoming Hinds graduates will continue their education in the fall.
In the past, College Signing Day was created to celebrate high school seniors who signed a national Letter of Intent for a collegiate sport with a college/university that is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Now College Signing Day has been expanded to celebrate high school seniors and community college graduates who are choosing to further their studies at a four-year institution.
On April 27, 2018, Instruction and Intervention Equals Retention and Graduation and Student Support Services collaborated to host College Signing Day. This program included a performance by the Alcorn State University cheerleading squad and a faculty staff Greek unity stroll.
During this celebration, we recognized incoming STEM Scholars and Tom Joyner Scholarship recipients, as well as incoming basketball players. Candace Chambers, author of Write Your Way to a Successful Scholarship Essay, talked about ways to find scholarships to fund the cost of college. Lastly, we recognized the students who were graduating from Hinds' Utica Campus.
Current Hinds students, LaKenya Moore, Brianna Watkins (Miss Utica 2017) and Hezekiah Williams gave a short presentation about why they chose the Utica Campus,, how the college has impacted their life and what they have learned.
Says LaKenya Moore about the impact Hinds has had on her life, “When everyone asks me why I chose Hinds, I tell them all the time that Hinds chose me. I say that because I was on the verge of not going to school because all the school I applied to were full. When I applied to Hinds, I didn’t know what to expect because all my plans had to change, but coming here has been by far the best college experience. Everyone is treated as family. We all may come from different backgrounds, but actually being here feels like you’ve known everyone your whole life.”
Lakenya and Brianna are both graduating in May and both plan to further their education — LaKenya plants to study Psychology at the University of Southern Mississippi and Brianna Watkins is planning to study Chemical Engineering at Prairie View A and M College. Hezekiah Williams, a STEM scholar, is planning to return to the Utica Campus as a sophomore.
