Hailey Seubert attends Cheney High School and will be a senior going into this academic school year. But with her time off this summer, she attended the DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking and Technology) Scholars Summer Study program that took place at the University of Washington on the Seattle campus. The organization helps kids with learning and physical disabilities.
According to the program’s website, “The DO-IT Scholars targets high school sophomores and juniors with disabilities in Washington state who are interested in pursuing higher education. The program seeks to encourage their participation in challenging academic programs and careers.”
With this being Seubert’s second year attending the program, she stayed in the residence halls to get the real college experience on the UW campus and attended the program for 10 days. Throughout these days, the students attending the program worked on projects in different fields such as neurobiology and robotics.
“The program has helped me advocate for myself and find small scholarships for college that most people don’t end up going for,” Seubert said. “The small ones add up.”
Seubert is one of the 45 college-bound high school students that were selected to participate in the program. Once the students are selected, they are loaned computers, software and adaptive technology that they can hopefully use in their homes even after leaving the campus. The goal is that they can learn to use the technology as a tool to help further their education.
Because of the DO-IT Scholars program, Seubert plans on going to college after she is done with high school. She was thinking of getting a degree in biology, but she has now decided to get pursue a teaching degree.
“I was kind of thinking of looking at colleges before going to DO-IT, but the program made me want to go even more,” Seubert added.
To apply to the program, students have to receive recommendations from their parents, teachers and counselors along with the application. Each year, about 17 new students enter the program. By the third year, former participants can become interns for the new students attending.
“It has really helped me on how to get help with colleges and with possibilities for myself,” Seubert said.
Grace Pohl can be reached at grace@cheneyfreepress.com.
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