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When you look at schools
across the country, whether in
affluent areas or inner cities,
they look very similar between
8 a.m. and 3 p.m. — great
teachers, great administrators
and great resources.
But what happens between 3
and 8 p.m.? That is when you
see a difference.
At schools in our neighborhood,
you see many hard-working
adults and immigrants, many
of whom never finished high
school themselves as they
entered the workforce early in
life in order to provide for their
families. When their children
come home from school,
there is often no one at home
who can help themwith their
schoolwork.
The originalmissionof theGCU
Learning Loungewas tobecome
that resource by providing free
academic assistance tohigh
school students from3 to8p.m.
weekdays. Thatwas the first step.
We saw that these students
were willing to work hard and
pay it forward, so the next step
was to establish the Students
Inspiring Students scholarship
fund, which provides full-tuition
scholarships to students
who sought assistance in
the Lounge, excelled in the
classroom and exhibit the
servant leadership to help
future students in the same way
that they got help.
Our biggest motivation was to
build relationships between
high school students and our
GCU learning advocates — or
LEADs —who have a desire to
serve and support and have
a passion for Christ. What it
boiled down to was students
coming to our campus to smile,
build confidence and courage,
and share their stories.
We have hundreds of students
who come through our door
every day and often spend three
hours a night. A lot of them
come from low socioeconomic
status and are potential first-
generation college students
with concerns and innate fears
of what college is.
Even though they might not
see it, what I see in these
students is that they believe
in themselves — they just
need someone to bring it out.
These students are going on
to be engineers, doctors and
teachers. The impact that they
make on the next students
is going to be remarkable
because their stories are
powerful.
Learning Lounge enables students to use
a natural resource — other students
B Y J O E V E R E S , E X E C U T I V E D I R E C T O R , S T U D E N T D E V E L O P M E N T A N D O U T R E A C H
GCU MAGAZ I NE • 1 5
Hundreds of students
take advantage of the free
academic assistance in the
Learning Lounge every day.