Oct. 8, 2011

By Amy Hughes

It has become one of the largest public outreach programs in the country.

It has taken thousands of elementary, middle school and high school students onto UCLA's Westwood campus and to the Rose Bowl in its 15-plus years of existence.

It is the "I'm Going to College" (IGTC) program administered by the UCLA Athletics Marketing and Promotions office, led by Associate Athletic Director Scott Mitchell.

"What we combine are a college fair with admission to an athletic event," said Mitchell. "We provide tickets to schools to use in any capacity that they feel is appropriate. Sometimes it's to reward good students, sometimes it's to reward great attendance; whatever the school district wants to push."

Many school districts connect UCLA's IGTC with the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program, which is an elementary through post-secondary college readiness system designed to increase school-wide learning and performance.

The IGTC program has made an impact on thousands of Southern California school children, including 18-year-old Gus Villela, a current first-year student at UCLA.

"I was in the AVID program at my junior high," said Villela. "I went to an `I'm Going to College' event for the first time when I was in seventh grade. The Bruins played Washington State at the Rose Bowl. I remember it was one of the first events that got me interested in college."

The day-of-game execution of an IGTC event involves many volunteers. All UCLA athletic teams will participate in at least one IGTC event per year. There is a college fair area set up, campus tours are given for events in Westwood, and the day's activities culminate with a UCLA sporting event.

"We get a significant number of volunteers," said Mitchell. "At the Rose Bowl (for football games), our students get on the bus and teach the kids the 8-clap, then take them over to the college fair and there are counselors there to talk about what you need to do to get into school, what school is like. There are other UCLA students on hand to answer questions about what things are like. When we have the events on campus, the student-athletes lead campus tours so all the youngsters get a chance to see and feel what it's like to be on campus. Then we close it out by going to an athletic event."

That exposure to the college atmosphere can have far-reaching effects.

"The AVID program I was in really wanted us to go to college but I never really got the concept of what college was until I went to my first football game," said Villela. "To me, it was the environment (that I remember). It was the way the students there were treated compared to the way they are in high school or junior high, and the independence that they had."

The IGTC program brings in students from all over the area. While the program works most closely with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), schools from as far away as Palm Springs and Bakersfield have participated. The wide variety of schools involved means that there is an equally wide variety of students coming to these UCLA sporting events.

"I once went on a bus and asked the kids if anybody here been to a college campus before," recalled Mitchell. "A couple of hands went up out of 40 kids. We were walking out afterwards and one of the teachers said `That's an interesting question you asked, Scott. Half of the kids on this bus haven't ever been to the beach before.'

"Sometimes you forget that there are a bunch of kids throughout Southern California who just haven't been exposed to a lot of things, so it's a real treat to be able to get them to see what it's like to go to a college campus," continued Mitchell. "We can urge them to think about what it's like to be a college student early on."

The IGTC program certainly made an impact on Villela, who will be volunteering at his first IGTC event as a UCLA student on Saturday at the Rose Bowl when the Bruins play Washington State at 7:30 p.m.

"In elementary school, I wasn't that into my academics or working hard," said Villela. "After `I'm Going to College,' it made me want to at least be close to getting accepted to a college. I strived for that goal from that point forward."

Villela did not anticipate that he would be accepted to UCLA and applied to several other UC campuses as well.

"I never thought I could get in to a school like UCLA," he said. "I was completely shocked and excited at the same time when I found out I had been accepted."

The IGTC program will have a slightly different look this school year, as Pauley Pavilion is not in use during its renovation. In a normal year, there would be about six IGTC events, including a few football games, a women's basketball game, a gymnastics meet and a track and field meet.

The 2011-12 school year will not be able to include some of those sports because teams that normally call Pauley Pavilion home are displaced to other, smaller, venues. However, this will provide other IGTC opportunities for sports such as men's basketball.

"This year, we'll do a couple of men's basketball games for the first time because we're playing on the road at the Sports Arena," said Mitchell. "We're also playing in Anaheim so it's an opportunity for some of those youngsters to experience UCLA basketball and so we're going to do some things at men's basketball that we haven't done in regards to I'm Going to College."

As the IGTC program continues to grow and expose school children to a top-notch college atmosphere, Mitchell continues to make small changes to keep things fresh.

"I think it's good for our student-athletes to give back to the community and interact with youngsters and become role models," said Mitchell. "I think it's good for the students that volunteer to get involved. That's where we're at with the program. I feel really good about it. I think it's a really great program that's impacted and touched a lot of people whether they've come to UCLA or not. The more we can push higher education and empowerment of youth, I think the better off we will all be."

On Saturday, one of the IGTC volunteers will be Villela.

"When I came here, I was looking forward to getting involved with volunteer groups," said Villela. "I was walking down Bruin Walk and saw the sign that they needed help with volunteers for I'm Going to College. Right then, I knew it was perfect for me because that was the same group that got me interested in college and the one thing I would want to do to influence somebody like me. Maybe I can give that wake-up call that I needed to get pushed into going to college.

"It's been amazing," said Villela of his college experience so far. "I've tried to get involved in as many things as I can. My classes are of course more difficult than high school, but it's nothing I can't manage. It's going great."