One of a Kind: North State Student Ambassadors Plan, Lead New Conference on Rural Voice

As a warm spring sun began to dry the previous nights’ rain on Chico State University's lush lawns and gardens, around 60 high school students filed into a conference room in central campus. High school students visiting a college campus, particularly in spring, is far from unique, but something about this gathering in early March was novel: The first-time Rural Student Voice Conference, hosted by the North State Student Ambassadors of Chico State, was just kicking off. All high school students present attended rural high schools; five per school, some hailing from nearby towns like Corning or Orland, while others drove over four hours to attend. Their hosts, the North State Student Ambassadors, are a student affinity group with an outreach-orientation dedicated to making college accessible and successful for rural students.

“We decided to do this conference to invite high schoolers to campus and show them that they're not by themselves, coming from a small town. . . So we just want to show them that it's not as scary as they may think, and that there's support for them if they need it” says Servando Melendrez, a junior at Chico and a veteran member of the North State Student Ambassador program (for more on the ambassador program, read here). Sophia Dutton, a senior at Chico, adds that “we wanted to get in touch with the regional rural high schoolers, and really let them know that we are a rural student group. We are just like them. We came from their areas, and we are here to support them.”

For Dr. Karen Schreder, RSC’s Northern California Regional Hub co-lead and Regional Faculty Fellow who oversees the ambassador program at Chico State, student ownership of the conference needed to be centered at every turn, from planning to day-of facilitation. “It was a student-driven idea. . . the students just said, ‘we need to have a conference.’ And I was like, ‘Okay, let's do a conference. . . How is that going to work? How are we going to put this all together?’ But they decided that we were just going to do it in a community outreach, collaborative kind of way, and have the ambassadors do the planning while being supported by me and our [faculty] team.”

As the ambassadors crafted an agenda, a few core elements became essential. First and foremost, they wanted to engage the high school students around the idea of narratives. Many of the ambassadors experienced negative perceptions of their communities growing up or from other students upon arriving at Chico or other universities (several are transfers), and through the ambassador program they began to rethink and reframe those cultural misconceptions. Moreover, they wanted the day to be fun and interactive, to craft a positive experience that would open the students’ minds to college in new ways. The only presentation over 15 minutes came from the University President, Dr. Steve Perez, and all ambassadors played a role in the day’s operations.

Brynna Garcia, a junior and long-time ambassador, and Sophia, are already doing research into negative rural narratives and positive counter-narratives. They viewed this conference as a chance to gather more information and further inform their investigation. To wrestle with the complex ideas around rural narratives, Sophia and Brynna solicited examples of common narratives cast upon rural communities, getting answers such as ‘there is nothing to do here,’ ‘there is nowhere to go for fun,’ or, ‘it’s just a bunch of cowboys here.’ Then, they had the students crumple up those negative narratives, throw them across the room, and collect the negative narratives that others had written and reframe them in a positive light. This activity brought a buzz to the air, and not just because students were being asked to throw paper around.

Through reframing, a ‘lack of stores to visit’ became ample opportunities for outdoor exploration and creativity, with a theme of rural resourcefulness emerging across the humming tables. Counter-narratives abounded, highlighted by one student reframing ‘there is no one here like me’ into sage wisdom: ‘it’s easier to stand out as yourself’ in a rural community. The activity built into conversations around assets and community strengths, and will feature in this spring’s research by Brynna and Sophia: “Brynna and I wanted to get their ideas, especially because they're living there right now. They're in the depths of it, and so we want to hear their perspectives.”

For Sophia, this activity in part was informed by her own personal transformation. She describes having “that kind of that ‘aha’ moment, that moment of realization, that I really was carrying a lot of those stereotypes and biases against my own community. . . there was kind of that flip, of being like, ‘Oh, I was playing into this.’ So I took a step back, and now try to help create the counter narrative, and support my community.” Veronica Ulloa, a sophomore ambassador, shares similar sentiments, describing the importance of this sort of engagement to reframe how they view their own voices and the role they play in their communities:

As the day continued, the ambassadors fielded questions about life at Chico, shared their own experiences transitioning from a small town to semi-urban Chico (which has a population of around 100,000), seeking to celebrate and demystify the college experience. As the morning concluded, students attended mini-workshops, led by local experts in education, including Susan Scroth, GRAD Partnership Director at North State Together and RSC Northern California Hub co-lead. As is tradition for visiting a college campus, the students next visited the dining hall, taking advantage of the myriad food options with its ever-enticing soft-serve machine, and concluded with a campus tour.

As the students filed away and began long drives back home, the ambassadors shared what they hoped the high schoolers took with them from the experience: “I really hope that they walk out with the feeling that, ‘Oh, I am important, and my rural area is important,’ and just to realize that that your assets and your town's assets are positive rather than something negative” shared Veronica. Servando felt similarly: “I would say pride. I want the students to have a lot of pride from where they come from. The North State Student Ambassadors definitely made me think of home more, and that I should be proud of where I come like I come from.”

Reflecting on the event, Karen notes that while it was a great recruitment event for Chico State, what she’s most proud of is the work that her team of North State Student Ambassadors put in to plan and craft this conference. She shares her pride in “how they support each other and how they've come together, because they are from different backgrounds. They all have different majors. They're from different places. They have come together under this common ground of, ‘I love my identity as a rural person,’ and those experiences and how it shaped their lives positively. And so they also want to support people to overcome and reframe some of the barriers that define rurality.”

All told, it was a day of opening doors. 60+ high school students from small, rural communities across Northern California encountered the possibility of college in a way that honored their rurality, a young lifetime of diverse experiences, and so many unique identities. For the ambassadors, too, putting on an event of this scale triggered both positive self-reflection and an awareness of the skills gained from leading a conference. Servando put it best, sharing that “I definitely have to say I'm very proud of myself. It's not easy to talk to 60 different people in a big room and have all their focus on you. So I feel a lot of personal growth.”

Thank you to Karen Schreder for facilitating RSC’s visit and participation in the North State Student Ambassadors Conference. RSC would also like to thank Susan Scroth, who led a workshop at the conference, for her commitment to partnership and supporting rural education everywhere. Finally, thank you to the many student ambassadors who shared their stories, perspectives, and experiences with the RSC team.