The Road to Self-Discovery through College & Career Readiness

For all high school seniors who are applying to UC and Cal State universities, the process of applying to college happens in the Fall, in the months leading up to the November 30th deadline. 

For many public high school seniors, the process of applying to college happens outside of the regular school day with a long checklist of important tasks that need to be completed for each application. 

At Da Vinci, the college application process happens in class, and students stay focused, organized and on track thanks to a College and Career Readiness class that all 12th graders at Da Vinci Communications, Design and Science take in the first semester of their senior year as part of Da Vinci’s core curriculum.  All Da Vinci high schools, including Connect High and RISE, host college information meetings for families and drop-in hours for students working on college applications. 

“This class has changed my life, said David Ortiz, a Da Vinci Communications senior. “I now realize that my dreams can be actual possibilities. I have always wanted more for myself and to achieve more, and through Jackson and this class, he introduced me to tools that will get me there so that I can be self-sufficient.”

For seniors in Christopher Jackson’s College and Career Readiness class at Da Vinci Communications, the semester starts with self-discovery activities focused on helping students identify their values, what they’re good at, and what they enjoy doing. 

The students take self-reflection quizzes, explore their strengths and weaknesses to create a career plan, build their college lists or next-step options, draft personal statements using classic storytelling structure, complete their college applications, complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) to maximize their financial aid, apply for scholarships, and much more.

Before Da Vinci students ever sit down to write a college application essay, they also do brainstorming exercises about their values, strengths, talents, skills and “essence objects” that represent memories, moments, relationships or values that are important to them.  Much of this curriculum in the early part of the semester comes from Ethan Sawyer, also known as the College Essay Guy, and Next Gen Personal Finance.

When it’s time to sit down and begin their college applications, students feel empowered, they feel prepared, and they feel like they have a better idea of who they are, what they want, and what they can achieve.

“I tell students to imagine that everyone who is applying for college, themselves included, has a 3.5-4.0 GPA, and everyone has taken similar classes,” said Christopher Jackson, Da Vinci Communications’ College & Career Readiness and Financial Literacy teacher. “Those are all just numbers, statistics. What’s going to set you apart is putting your DNA on your personal statement to colleges. The way to do that is by talking about your values, your interests, your likes, things you geek out on.  You’ve got to discover yourself first,” he continued. 

Mr. Jackson is quick to tell his students about his own experiences in high school and in his early 20s and he’s grateful to be able to use education as a means to help his students avoid the missteps he took when he was younger. 

Thank you, Mr. Jackson, for helping to guide our students and helping to give them a roadmap they can identify with. We’re grateful to you.

To all of our seniors who are applying for colleges as we write this, we are so excited for you and all that you can and will achieve in life. We are also so grateful for the ability to play a role in helping you on your journey. And we know that Mr. Jackson is excited to take you on the next leg of the journey in financial literacy, next semester. 

We are so proud of our Da Vinci students who graduate college and career-ready. 95% of Da Vinci graduates have successfully completed the A-G college entrance requirements (a rate 51% higher than the 2022 state average), while 85% of Da Vinci students persist in their second year of college (9% above the national average). 1,128 Da Vinci students have participated in real world learning experiences over the past 12 months.