About 25 percent of all graduating seniors in San Francisco don't have a plan for college. That is...until Friday.
"If they didn't have a plan before today, they are enrolling in City College," said
San Francisco Unified School District transported students to City College, helped them apply, they met with counselors, and offered students financial aid options.
Ora Kuvshinova arrived from Russia two years ago. She'll enroll at City College in the fall and transfer later.
"I want to transfer to UCLA, since I want to become a doctor," said Kuvshinova.
"For me to have a good job, I think I need a good college degree for that," said Rainer Widjaja.
Danny Carretto is a high school senior. He was at the event, even though he's already accepted Cal's invitation to attend school in September. He'll be the first in his family to attend college.
"I could make a difference in my family and within myself," said Carretto.
Friday's event was called "Frisco Day," an acronym for Friday Successful College Options. There were even words of encouragement from Mayor Ed Lee.
"You have an opportunity to improve your life, give yourself a foundation, get that college degree, get focused," said Lee.
The fair was mainly funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
So the main idea is to get them into college and to make the transition as easy as possible. It's the first of its kind in the nation. But really, did they have to name it "Frisco?"
"One of our young people actually told me that I was out of touch for thinking that 'Frisco' was still out of touch. Apparently a lot of the young folks have reclaimed 'Frisco' and it's now cool if you are younger than me, to call San Francisco, Frisco," said Kimberly Wicoff from the mayor's office.
Whatever motivates them to go for a college degree.
