Brianna Stevenson wants to go to college. She used to worry about how to choose a school and whether the schools that interest her have enough prestige.

But thanks to a new collaboration between Oberlin College and the Oberlin school district, the Oberlin High School junior’s confidence in her own judgment has gotten a big boost.

"The most difficult part has been narrowing the choices of where I want to go," she says. "There are so many colleges. But being a Ninde has shown me that it is okay to apply to a college that not many people know about, if it meets your standards."

Ninde. That’s how Oberlin High School (OHS) students participating in the Ninde Scholars Program refer to themselves. Begun this fall, the program helps qualified OHS sophomores, juniors, and seniors gain access to higher education. It is the latest joint venture between Oberlin College and the city of Oberlin, involving collaboration among the College’s Community-Based Writing Program (CBWP), the Oberlin School District, and the Lorain County Urban League.

"The program owes its existence to two visionary Oberlin residents, Dick and Ann Ninde," says CBWP Director Anne Trubek, who oversees the program. "They offered the community a challenge grant of $450,000 to support higher education initiatives, and the community matched it. The result is the Ninde Challenge Grant endowment fund."

To be chosen as Ninde Scholars, students must be motivated and demonstrate a need for the information and resources the program delivers.

The College has literally thrown open its doors to help the OHS college aspirants, who meet weekly in a study room in Mudd Center with College students who advise and encourage them as they complete assigned college-search-related projects. Trubek, who is also associate professor of rhetoric and composition, handpicks tutoring veterans from among the CBWP student tutors and Bonner Scholars to work with the Ninde scholars.

The Obie tutors also help the young scholars digest information they receive during counseling workshops led by Oberlin College insiders. Among those who have given presentations to the Nindes are a staff member from the College Office of Admissions, who discussed what he and his colleagues look for in a college application, and a faculty member from the Department of Rhetoric and Composition, who defined what comprises a good college essay.

To give the high school students a feel for college life, Trubek, the tutors, and relevant College faculty and staff members invite them to informal dinners at campus dining halls and restaurants in town, and they introduce them to OHS alums now enrolled in the College and first-generation OC students, who might become informal mentors.

The Nindes also attend computer-training sessions at the Bridge, Oberlin’s community technology center. Key to the program is the loan of a laptop from the CBWP."Computer literacy in college is indispensable," says Trubek.

Once the students complete the program, the laptops become theirs to use in college. In addition, sophomores and juniors who complete all requirements become eligible to join a college tour each spring, and seniors who complete the process receive a $250 scholarship.

Oberlin College senior Monica Gagnon, who serves as a liaison between Trubek and the other community-based writing tutors, is guiding Brianna Stevenson and three other OHS juniors through the college application process.

"Monica has been such a help," Stevenson says. "She thoroughly explained all the steps needed to make a college choice and take the SAT successfully, and how to pace myself."

"The four girls I work with are extremely motivated, and I have come to love working with them," says Gagnon, a religion major with a French minor and an international studies concentration. "They excel not only in academics, but also in athletics and in the community. They are the type of well-rounded students any college would love to have," she stresses.

"They are all extremely bright, but may not have the resources that they need to shine. In my eyes, that’s what the Ninde program is all about: teaching them how to present themselves and helping them shine."

The Community-Based Writing Program