Written by Ingrid Gendler
Spring has sprung in New York City and there is no better time to try your hand at a new activity. How about vision-boarding? PAL’s College Access Program (CAP) did just that! Participants worked on setting goals and building confidence in their virtual vision boarding workshop. The virtual vision boards showed off their unique inspirations, aspirations, and personalities in creative and colorful collages.
What is vision-boarding and how do you start?
A visualization activity used for decades by Olympic athletes and celebrities including Oprah, creating a vision board is as simple as collaging together pictures and words that represent your inspirations and goals. Start by thinking about people or activities that inspire you, and some goals you wish to accomplish. These can be short-term goals, or goals with no set deadline. Then come up with some ways you can represent each of the items you came up with. Whether you choose to put up a picture of the person who inspires you most, or simply throw on a smiley face to remind yourself to laugh a little more often, there is no wrong way of putting together your unique vision board. Just don’t be afraid to get creative!
How does vision-boarding fit with the College Access Program?
PAL’s College Access Program guides our teens on their path to achieving their dreams of higher education and meaningful careers. CAP provides positive youth development workshops, academic support, college awareness, job skills development, and targeted self-selected internships to participants, to help PAL’s youth complete high school and navigate the complex college application process. Vision boarding is a useful tool for developing important goal-setting skills and for helping our teens kids feel more confident in their abilities to overcome the persistent barriers to college access that many low-income youth face. The goal of CAP is to encourage and prepare young people for success in school and their careers.