Louisville, Ky. (WHAS11) -- The bleachers are packed with Southern High School seniors in their gym Monday morning. The class has 119 days until graduation and school administrators have vowed to get 100 percent of the seniors to apply for college.
“How many of you will be the first in your family to go to college?” Lt. Governor elect Jerry Abramson asked the crowd of seniors.
Abramson was the first person in his family to go to college. Just like Abramson, Ashney Lawson plans to be the first in her family to go to college after she graduates from Southern in 2012.
“I feel like if you have the chance to further your education, I’m going to go ahead and do it,” Lawson said.
The assembly at Southern High School Monday is part of a statewide effort to encourage seniors to pursue a higher education. Governor Steve Beshear has proclaimed Nov.14 through the 18 as “College Application Week.”
Currently, 30 out of 270 seniors at Southern have applied for college. Lawson has applied to go to the University of Kentucky for public relations.
But, she feels she knows why some of her friends hesitate moving on to college.
“I think fear of thinking ‘I’m not good enough to be accepted in this college,” Lawson, as she refers to what other students might think about going to college, said.
But Abramson says everybody has the opportunity to get a higher education.
“The most important thing is for these students to know is, yes they can go to college,” said Abramson. “Yes, they can go get an associate’s degree or four degree. And they can do it with the financial aid, the financial assistance scholarships and grants that are out there for each and every one of them to apply for.
