Sometimes the most powerful thing a high school student can hear is the honest perspective of someone who has already walked the path they’re about to take. That’s exactly what College Possible Omaha’s College Experience Panels are designed to provide.
Now in its third year, the event series brings together current college students and faculty to speak directly with high school students about what college is really like — the challenges, the opportunities, and everything in between. This year, panels were hosted at seven partner high schools throughout February and March, with over 150 students participating across all events.
Real Answers to Real Questions
Each panel features a mix of college students and professors representing a wide range of fields including nursing, journalism, accounting, economics, business administration, finance, marketing, film, HR, and public speaking. The variety is intentional, giving students a chance to connect with panelists who are studying or working in areas they may already be curious about.
The questions students brought to the panels reflected just how much they’re already thinking about their futures. They asked things like:
- How many classes do you recommend taking each semester?
- Does changing your major set you back?
- What’s the hardest part about college?
- How did you start looking and applying for scholarships?
- What made you choose your major?
- How did you figure out what study method works best for you?
These aren’t just questions with easy answers, and that’s the point. Panelists responded with the kind of candid, firsthand perspective that can be hard to find anywhere else.
Familiar Faces at the Front of the Room
For College Possible students, seeing familiar faces on the panel makes a difference. At Bellevue East High School, two school alumni, college student Hector and college professor Cameron, returned to sit on the panel, speaking to students who are now in the same position they once found themselves.
For Hector, the moment carried a special meaning. Just last year, he was sitting in the audience at a College Experience Panel as a Bellevue East student himself. Now a freshman at Creighton University, he came back to offer the same experience to the students who came after him. “College Possible has supported me throughout my journey so far, and I wanted to come back and share that with students who are just getting started,” he says.
Panelists from across the metro area echoed that motivation. Aylinee, a College Possible student now attending the University of Nebraska Omaha, returned to her former high school to participate as a panelist. “I wanted to share my perspective on my college experience with others,” she says. Nasrin, also at UNO, had a simpler reason: “I wish I had this opportunity when I was in high school.”
Mikaiya, a student at the College of Saint Mary studying nursing while also competing as a college athlete, wanted to challenge the assumption that balancing it all isn’t possible. “Sometimes people think it’s not possible,” she says. “I want everyone to know that you can do anything you put your mind to.”
A Tradition Worth Continuing
The College Experience Panels connected students with panelists from a range of institutions, including the College of Saint Mary, Creighton University, Metropolitan Community College, the University of Nebraska Lincoln, and the University of Nebraska Omaha — reflecting the many different paths students can take after high school.
For College Possible Omaha, the panels represent something larger than a single event: a chance to make college feel real, attainable, and within reach for students who may still be figuring out if it’s even an option for them. After three years of successful panels, that mission hasn’t changed.
