On November 12, 2009, African Leadership Academy was thrilled to host a College Information Session tour. CIS tours often help students determine which universities or colleges will be right for them. CIS tours are also very selective about which secondary schools they choose to visit, and ALA being selected during our first year of eligibility is a major acknowledgement by the CIS organizers that ALA is a school of substance and our students are highly desirable.
The tour included 15 universities from the United States and Canada. Attending from America were Colgate University in Hamilton, New York; Columbia University in New York City; Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa; Michigan State University, Pennsylvania State University, Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri; the University of Tampa and West Virginia University, in Morgantown. Canadian Universities in attendance included Carleton University in Ottawa; The University of Saskatchewan; in Saskatoon, Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops; and York University in Toronto.
Admissions officers also sat in on ALA classes, met with students and made presentations at a general assembly before setting up individual information tables to allow interested students to engage one-on-one with each counsellor.
Admissions officers were stationed around the quad, each given a table in their own portico, with the green field and white birch trees acting as a backdrop. Students wandered around the quad, engaging the adults in group or solitary discussions. Many students remarked that they felt that it helped not only define their school selection, but also assisted in understanding the process of both enrolling and living in a North American undergraduate environment.
At the end of the event, CIS organizers stated that they were very happy that they added ALA as a stop on this tour, and that ALA would be included in next year’s tour also–a very rare occurrence and yet another testimony to the calibre of ALA. All in all, the day was a major success: another in a long line of special days at ALA.
