This summer, select students from AHS attended a diversity program at Virginia Tech. The program, called the Black College Institute or BCI, hosted this diversity program for rising high school seniors at Virginia tech. 

The goal of the program is to increase diversity levels at Virginia Tech by educating minority students with hands-on experiences and lessons of what it’s like to attend Virginia Tech. 

The Annandale students that attended include Nia Lewis, Safia Ahmed, Melat Haimonat, Andy Chen, Ayia Ismael and Jasmine Mann. 

“We toured almost every college they had and got to do fun activities like playing with drones and even personality tests,” Nia Lewis said. 

Not only did the program provide unique experiences on the Virginia Tech campus but also provided tours, free applications and a one on one meeting with a VT admissions officer to students that may not have the time or money to do otherwise. 

In addition to the fun activities provided in the program, students also participated in lesson based sessions where the focus was diversity. “We also created presentations on different issues affecting our community and presented them to the camp staff and members of the VT staff,” Lewis said.

“I enjoyed it because it made me see what Virginia tech was really like and I liked their ideas towards minority inclusion and how much they care about representing our communities” Nia Lewis said. “It was also a beneficial experience because of the useful advice I received from my counselors about the college application process,” Lewis said.