On a balmy Monday in August, 85 new students joined this year’s cohort of Foundation Year for a day of learning, team building, and fun.
On this first day of orientation, paper plane making helped break the ice and brought students together around problem solving and friendly competition.
Representing 12 Boston neighborhoods and speaking 19 different languages, this cohort builds upon a 15-year legacy of success. Founded in 2009, Foundation Year ensures a smooth transition to university life and allows students to maximize their potential at Northeastern. The program provides a robust academic curriculum and uses a cohort model to provide students with a tight-knit community and minimize barriers that can hinder student success in their first year.
After a few minutes of team collaboration, nine groups selected a representative to fly the plane they chose to compete.
Some planes went farther than others.
Some just spiraled.
Some crashed.
Some hit people in the face*
Some managed to somehow…fly backwards.
It didn’t matter.
What did matter was the laughter. The teamwork. The celebration of successes. The support and appreciation for those efforts that were less successful. And the opportunity to recognize that none of these students are here alone.
It may have been just a simple paper plane making ice breaker, but a community began to be created today. A community of scholars and leaders whose future starts now. Over the course of this year, they will each encounter challenges and opportunities. They will work hard. They will make progress. They will have setbacks. They will grow.
The results of Foundation Year are undeniable.
The program boasts a 92% average matriculation rate. Many successfully graduate with a bachelor’s degree. Nearly all of them enthusiastically give back as volunteers or mentors, to the program and to their communities. In fact, today several of the organizers were former Foundation Year students.
Talent is undeniable.
What Foundation Year students show is that when talent meets opportunity, anything is possible.
Past Foundation Year students such as Jeremy Thompson who is in his last year at CPS pursuing his BS in Finance and Account Management, is testament to that fact. Born and raised in Dorchester, Thompson attended English High School in Jamaica Plain, one of Boston’s oldest public schools.
Looking back at his high school experience, Thompson said he wasn’t really coached to strive for graduate-level academic horizons. He said, “The general expectation among the students and teachers was for us to get an associate’s degree, at max. The hope was for us to graduate and get into a community college with no real focus beyond that. Foundation Year gave me a heavy push to develop certain habits and to focus on something much more. Foundation Year helped me stay more consistent in reaching for my goals.”
Looking back at his high school experience, Thompson said he wasn’t really coached to strive for graduate-level academic horizons. He said, “The general expectation among the students and teachers was for us to get an associate’s degree, at max. The hope was for us to graduate and get into a community college with no real focus beyond that. Foundation Year gave me a heavy push to develop certain habits and to focus on something much more. Foundation Year helped me stay more consistent in reaching for my goals.”
Thompson’s hard work gave him the space to consider a healthy list of next-step opportunities, including both full-time employment and graduate school. Ultimately, he was able to secure a full-time role with Ernst & Young, LLP, where he held two internships as a student.
Through it all, he has continuously and tirelessly given back. He has excelled in developing his passion for serving the community, and due to his many roles as a community activist, he was honored by Northeastern University with its Social Justice Advocacy Award in 2023.
So, what does this have to do with a room full of incoming students flying paper airplanes?
When asked to reflect upon their group plane building exercise, one student raised his hand and said:
“One thing I learned was that when you push too hard forward without strong footing, you can end up going backward”.
He may have been talking about paper planes, and he earned the responding good-spirited laughter. But what a profound statement about life.
Isn’t it good to know that this group of incoming students is establishing that strong footing together. As the year marches on, they will face inevitable challenges together and with a dedicated group of peers and a team of advisors and professors committed to their long-term success, they will surely fly forward…and fly far.
*no one was injured in the making of this paper plane exercise