TWU Legacy Leaders share their experiences of preparing for college

January 14, 2022 – DENTON - Often the key to success in college is taking advantage of the many preparatory opportunities available in high school, especially dual high school and college credit offered by Early College High Schools (ECHS), as four Texas Woman’s Legacy Leaders students discovered. Thanks to the Center for Student Leadership, they not only have continued to thrive in college, but they also had the opportunity to share their experiences and inspire others as well.

Lesly Alvarado, Serena Fernandez, Sarah Matthew and Xaria Williams, all members of the first cohort of Legacy Leaders, a scholarship program designed for student leaders who want to leave a legacy and make an impact in their communities and industries, co-presented at the Pathways to Texas CCMR (College, Career and Military Ready) Summit in Dallas in October 2021. The all-inclusive event for administrators, career and technical education leaders, counselors and higher education staff focused on the pathways that support college, career and military readiness.

For their presentation, “Partnering to Prepare Students to Learn, Lead and Serve,” each student prepared slides and shared their story as it related to what they learned, how they are leading and how they are serving. They talked about their high school/ECHS journey, as well as their accomplishments at TWU.

“As someone who believes that preparing the next generation of leaders is a shared responsibility, I am always looking for opportunities to build bridges between K-12, higher education and industry partners, so I was so excited when an opportunity presented itself for TWU’s Legacy Leaders to talk about how their experience as dual credit/ECHS students prepared them to excel at TWU, not only as students but also as leaders,” said Lawrencina Mason Oramalu, director of the Center for Student Leadership. “I knew that speaking at the conference would be a great professional development opportunity for the students, and for me, it was extremely rewarding to watch them grow over the weeks spent preparing for the presentation.”

After the workshop, several participants talked with the students. An administrator who was in attendance also brought two groups of students to campus for tours, and the Legacy Leaders talked to them and answered their questions about college and being a student leader.

“We are hopeful we will see some of those students here as TWU students because they were inspired by the Legacy Leaders and their stories,” said Oramalu.

This was just one of the many opportunities the Center for Student Leadership, part of the Jane Nelson Institute for Women’s Leadership, provides to the Legacy Leaders, with more being planned for the future.

“We definitely want to provide our Legacy Leaders an opportunity to develop important leadership skills such as communication and critical thinking,” said Oramalu. “Hopefully we will be able to continue to find opportunities such as this one for them to speak on campus, in the community and beyond.”

Through all of its programs, the Center for Student Leadership is preparing student leaders who are able to make a positive impact at TWU, in their local communities and in their respective future professions.

“We are not only making sure students are on the path to graduate with a college degree,” said Oramalu, “but we are also creating opportunities to help them learn, lead, serve and develop into confident, competent, engaged and socially responsible leaders.”

Student reflections