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As the bus rolled out of the Chabot parking lot at 6:15 A.M. on Saturday October 15th, the excited chatter faded to soft snores. The destination was an hour and a half away for our first trip to the annual Pre-Health Professions Conference at UC Davis in three years! The enthusiasm for a return to an in-person conference after two years of cancellations was evident in the fact that we could not fit all interested students on the 50-seat bus and additional carpools were required. All 62 Gladiators made the trip to Davis to speak with representatives from over 150 schools and organizations and to attend workshop sessions designed to entice, encourage, and recruit future health professionals.
For many of our students, this was their first time experiencing a large-size research university like UC Davis. The facilities and hospitality at the conference proved to make an impression and serve as inspiration of possibilities to come after their time here at Chabot. For students who don't have the opportunity to tour many 4-year campuses, trips like this can serve as an encouragement to entertain possibilities beyond what is familiar and comfortable. Along with the heartfelt thank yous to chaperones Jennifer Lange and Cheri Calcagno, at the end of the day were many student comments that they "had never seen a college like that before" and “could see myself going here now!”
This opportunity was provided through a collaboration between grants from the National Institutes of Health, MESA & TRiO-STEM, and Department of Education HSI-STEM (Hispanic Serving Institutions) & Articulation.
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