DeVry HerWorld Preparedness Presentation Final Script with Accompanying Slides
(Slide image appears below the script)
1. (Welcome Slide)
a. Double click the file and the presentation will launch full screen on a computer.
b. The welcome slide will appear first. Click on the presentation to begin.
c. Once the presentation is launched the presenter can click the screen to advance to the next slide.
2. (Intro Slide) Good afternoon. Today you’ve heard about a lot of interesting careers, from meteorology to
engineering to chemistry. But what do they all have in common? If you said they all require a college degree,
you’re right. But how do we even start to think about college? My name is <name> and I’m a <profession> with
<organization/company>. It wasn’t so very long ago that I was sitting right where you are today. I knew I wanted
to go to college, but I didn’t know what I needed to do to get there. Were my grades good enough? Were my test
scores high enough? Did I participate in enough activities to make me look good to the colleges I thought I might
want to attend? There are so many questions. And sometimes the whole idea of just applying to college – never
mind actually attending – can be so overwhelming that we can start to wonder whether it’s even worth it. But let
me tell you a little secret. It’s totally worth it.
3. Let’s get started with the last portion of today and kick things off with a fun little exercise. I hope this will get us all
thinking about just how limitless your potential is with a college degree. I’m going to tell you about some
successful women and what they do. Then based on some clues, we’ll try to figure out what companies they
work for. Ready? Let’s get started.
(Have girls raise their hands to provide answers after sharing clues; pick the first three to share their
answers)
4. Indra Nooyi was born in India. She worked midnight shifts as a receptionist to put herself through college and
she went on to earn a master’s degree in business education. Today she’s the CEO of one of the world’s bestknown companies. Let’s see if you can figure out which company it is. Here are your clues:
5. People have been enjoying this company’s fizzy, refreshing signature product for 108 years. In addition to its
signature product, this company also owns brands like Gatorade and Frito-Lay. Britney Spears has appeared in
a number of this company’s commercials including one alongside P!nk and Beyoncé. Maybe you’ve noticed the
judges on the program, “The X Factor,” drinking out of glasses emblazoned with this company’s logo.
6. If you guessed Pepsi, you’re right. Indra Nooyi translated the college education she worked so hard to earn into
a trip to the very top of the corporate latter as Pepsi’s CEO.
7. Let’s try another one. Mae Jemison started college at age 16, eventually earning both a bachelor’s and medical
degree. Although she did practice medicine, she’s best known as the first African-American woman to do what
only a small handful of people in the whole world have ever done. Let’s see if you can guess the company she
worked for when she made this remarkable achievement.
6. Maybe you’ve seen Tom Hanks and Kevin Bacon portraying employees of this government agency in a
1996 Oscar winning movie, or better yet, you’ve heard the famous line, “Houston we have a problem.” Not
even the sky is the limit for what you can accomplish when you work here. Sometimes you really do have to
be a rocket scientist to work here.
7. If you guessed NASA, you’re right. In 1992, Mae Jemison became the first African American woman to
travel to space. Today, she runs her own technology and research company called the Jemison Group.
8. It’s fitting that Anne Sweeney was active in theater as a teenager and went on to earn two degrees. She
began her career at Nickelodeon, just as it was gaining prominence for its children’s programming, then
moved on to launch the FX network. Now, Sweeney is the co-chairwoman and president of another very
well-known company.
9. The company was founded by its namesake, who first came to prominence for his collection of animated
creations. This company is famous for its classic animated movies, but it also has found success producing
live action movies and TV shows. If you were to call this company a “Mickey Mouse operation,” it wouldn’t
be considered a put-down.
10. Okay, that last one gave it away, right? Of course, Anne Sweeney works for the Disney Corporation!
11. These are just three examples of successful women who are at the top of their field. And what did they all
have to do to reach their career dreams? That’s right, they all went to college.
12. College is one of the greatest experiences you’ll ever have. Sure, it offers you the opportunity to study
subjects that provide a foundation for what you want to do for the rest of your life. But it’s so much more. It’s
about growing up; it’s about learning responsibility; it’s about budgeting money and balancing deadlines; it’s
about following your passion and setting the stage for a rewarding career. And it’s about forming
relationships that will last forever.
13. In short, college is the opportunity of a lifetime. And today, we’re going to talk about some of the things you
can be doing right now that will not only help you find the right college, but also give you some tools that
will help you thrive once you get there. Today, we begin to construct the foundation upon which you’re going
to build your dreams. Just remember this: just like it’s never too early to start planning for college, it’s never
too late, either. The important thing is that you begin to take the right steps. And that’s why we’re here
today.
14. Let’s take a minute for a quick brainstorm to get us thinking about college. What I would like for you to do is
break off into groups of three or four – a grouping that you haven’t been in before. Then spend five minutes
as a group making a list of the five things you think are most important for helping to prepare for college.
[Participants pair off and brainstorm some ideas. After five minutes, the presenter calls on the groups to talk
about their lists.]
These are some great ideas and as we go through our discussion, we’re going to touch on many of those
and answer some of the questions you may have. So let’s get started. Are you ready?
15. Create Your Own Dream Team
Nobody gets to the top by themselves. All of us owe our success not just to our own hard work, but to the
support we receive from the people around us. Parents, family friends, and community members all want
you to succeed. And so do your high school guidance counselors and teachers. So, with all these people in
your corner, it would be foolish not to take them up on their support, right?
16. Think about some of the people in your life you could lean on and who could help you prepare for college.
Let’s start building your dream team! Give us the name of one person in your life who you would want on
your dream team and why.
[Have girls raise their hands and name people who would they would want on their dream teams. If they
don’t come up with these on their own, help them to identify them. These can then scroll out onto the slide.]
Great! We all have support groups already in place. Sometimes it’s just a matter of identifying the people
who are already on our team. What can your support group do for you? The better question is what can’t
they do? The possibilities are endless, from helping you fill out financial-aid paperwork, to taking you on
college visits, to helping you research what colleges might be the best fit for you. So take a look around at
the people in your life and start to draft the Dream Team that’s going to help you make your college dreams
come true.
17. I also urge you to find a teacher, who can serve as a mentor for you. Let’s say you love math – and who
doesn’t love math, right? Chances are, there’s a teacher you’ve had during high school, who not only
recognizes your aptitude for numbers, but who sees the potential in you to do great things in the field.
Maybe that teacher is your mentor – someone who can help you as you begin to look at some of the
colleges you might want to attend and offer advice as you begin to narrow down your choices. Never
underestimate the importance of a good mentor!
18. The same goes for your schools academic advisors. If you haven’t met with an advisor yet, please, do so as
soon as you can. For as much help as your Dream Team will be, no one has the kind of inside knowledge
about the college application process that your advisor has. Your advisor can help you schedule your ACT
and SAT tests, help steer you toward schools that are the best fits for your interests, and assist you in
writing for admissions essays, among other things. Take my word for it: later in life, people pay lots of
money for the kind of advice your academic advisor can give you for free. Take advantage of it while you
can!
19. Helping Yourself
So we’ve spent some time talking about some of the people we can count on to help us as we prepare for
college. But who is the person who’s in the very best position to help you achieve your dreams? Is it your
sister? Is it your cousin Ralphie? Who?
[Participants respond that it’s them]
20. That’s right. No one can help you achieve your dreams more than you. The same goes for college. You’re in
the driver’s seat; you’re the captain of your own ship. Make sure you’re steering toward your own success.
But how do you do that? There are countless ways, and we could probably talk about them all day. But here
are just a few.
21. Developing good study habits
Chances are you’ve been hearing this for as long as you’ve been in school. Am I right? But guess what,
that’s because good study habits are important on so many levels. Good study habits directly correlate to
better learning. And better learning leads to better grades and better test scores. And what do better test
scores and better grades lead to?
[Participants respond, hopefully, that good study habits lead to better choices when it comes to college.]
That’s right. Better test scores and better grades give you better choices when it comes to applying and
getting accepted to college. It’s just that simple. Now, hopefully you’ve already developed some good study
habits. But even if you have, let’s talk about some habits you can use now to make you a better learner.
After all, learning doesn’t stop when you get into college, does it? In fact, your days of learning are just
beginning the day you walk onto campus. So, here are a few tips for developing good study habits:
22. Preview –
Take some time before class – even if it’s just a few minutes --- to look over that day’s lesson. Skim the
chapter that the lecture will cover. This way, some of the day’s material will already be familiar and you’ll
have a head start on the day’s learning. You’ll also have an idea about what doesn’t make sense to you and
you can concentrate on these areas and have questions ready in advance.
23. Take Great Notes – Look, you’re sitting in class anyway, so you might as well use the time to your
advantage, right? Thorough, organized notes are one of the best ways to tie together what your teacher
says with what’s in your textbook. And here’s a great tip for taking great notes: you don’t need to write down
every word, but if your teacher says something twice, you can pretty much count on it being on the test. If
you hear it twice, put a star next to it and make sure you know it on exam day.
24. Study First – Everybody wants to hang out with their friends or go to the mall or to the movies. But you’ll
have more fun doing these activities if you don’t have homework or studying hanging over your head.
25. Study first, then be social. Or better yet, plan study groups with your friends – just make sure you guys get
some actual studying done!
26. Plan Ahead – If you know you have a date on Saturday night, then make sure you set some time aside
earlier in the day or on Friday night to do some extra studying. Remember, you’re going to have more fun on
your date if you aren’t worried about Monday’s math test the whole time. Remember, study habits are just
that – habits. If you don’t do them all the time, they aren’t going to become habits and they aren’t going to
help you all the time. Let’s take a moment to talk about some other good study habits that can help you
become a better student.
[Students brainstorm other good study techniques that can help them to be better learners]
These are all good ideas and believe me, if you incorporate them into your daily routine, they will make you
a better learner and a better student.
27. Challenge Yourself
Have you ever heard the expression, “Be all you can be?” The same is true for academics. You should be
challenging yourself every day to be the best student you can be.
You should be taking the hardest classes you can take and still do well. That doesn’t mean the hardest
classes you can take and do well in without putting in much effort. It means taking classes that challenge
you every day. There’s no reason for you to be taking regular Algebra II if you could be taking AP Algebra II.
If you can succeed in accelerated Spanish with a little extra work, then that’s the class you should be taking.
There are a lot of benefits to this. First, you make yourself a better student – and you get to put some of
those study habits we were just talking about to good use. And there’s a lot to be said for the simple act of
challenging yourself to persevere through a difficult class. But also, colleges want to see that students are
pushing themselves beyond their academic comfort zones.
If it comes down to two students who have identical GPAs, but one took harder classes than the other one,
who do you think is a better candidate to get accepted? [Pause … ] Of course. It’s the student who
challenged herself with harder classes. It’s a no-brainer.
28. The same goes for athletics and other extra-curricular activities. I’m not saying that every field hockey player
is going to automatically get into a great college just because of sports. But athletics and other extracurricular activities show admissions officers that you’re a well-rounded person – someone who can balance
her time between several different activities and still do well in school.
And it doesn’t have to be sports. Let’s face it, some of us just aren’t into sports. But do you like to take
pictures? Why not work on the school newspaper? Are you interested in science? Look into the physics club
or the chemistry club. Or audition for a school play … whatever. Just get involved.
Colleges want students who are well rounded. By getting involved in your school or your community – or
both – you show yourself to be someone with diverse interests and an attractive candidate for a great
college!
29. Getting Your Applications In
We’ve talked about lots of ways to prepare for college and many of you might be wondering: When do you
need to have your applications in? Like most things associated with college admissions, there isn’t one
answer.
30. But generally speaking, you should plan to have all of your applications submitted by Halloween of your
senior year. That way you’ll be ahead of any deadlines set by individual schools, most of which fall in
November or December. However, some schools do what’s called “rolling admission.” Basically, this means
that they accept students on a first-come, first-serve basis, so there’s an advantage to getting applications to
these schools in early.
31. For those of you seniors who may not have applied yet, you can still start college after you graduate. There
are schools who may be accepting applications as we speak. Or you can apply now for the next semester
or even for the following school year. Or you might want to think about community college, which is a great
way to get some basic classes out of the way. Again, talk to your guidance counselor. It’s his or her job to
know when college or community college applications deadlines are.
32. Setting Realistic Expectations
I want to make sure you know that there is a college for you. It’s just a matter of finding the right school, with
the right programs that will help you pursue a degree that matches your interests and your strengths. The
right school is out there. Talk to your parents and your academic advisor. Your parents can give you a better
idea of how much money you have to work with and your advisors can help you narrow down your options
based on financial aid, scholarships, your grades and your test scores. But remember: it’s not just about
what colleges want you.
33. It’s also about which colleges you want. Are you thinking about a two-year program or a four-year degree?
Do you think you want to go to a larger, state university? Or would you feel more comfortable at a smaller
school with smaller class sizes? Do you want to go away, or would you prefer to live at home? What are a
school’s work-study options? What scholarships are available? Does it have a study-abroad program? What
is the faculty-to student ratio?
You might also ask yourself whether you want the option of taking classes online, as opposed to going to
class at the same time every day. Perhaps you’ll be juggling work with school and you’ll need the flexibility
to complete your coursework when it’s convenient for you.
34. And let’s face it: for some students, the college experience is more about preparing for your career than it is
about the traditional college experience. So how do we go about doing that? Again, this is where your
academic advisor can be a huge help. Talk to your advisor about what you want to get out of college. Your
advisor can help you narrow down some schools that are the best fit for you, whether than means finding
ones that offer specific degree programs or ones that will allow you to take classes online around your work
schedule. I’ll say it again: the right school is out there. It’s just a matter of finding the one that is the best fit
for you to succeed.
35. But remember, as I said earlier: it’s never too early to start preparing for college. But it’s never too late to
start preparing, either. But your dreams aren’t going to wait forever, so make them come true!
I can’t tell you how envious I am of you as you begin this fantastic voyage toward college. I envision great
things for each and every one of you, as you prepare for one of the greatest adventures of your lives!
36. Does anybody have any questions?
37. Thank you for your attention and all of your great participation! Now, we’re going to hear from <panelist>
who is a(n) <profession> with <company> who will share <topic> [INSERT specifically what the next
speaker will talk about]