By Joana Karoshi | Staff Writer
When Maryeah Kosel saw an ad on her high school’s Instagram page for a program designed to prepare students for college, it piqued her interest as a first-generation college student.
“I didn’t really know much about college, and neither did my parents,” said Kosel, a student at Midway High School. “I didn’t know the process — where I should apply, how I should apply and how to approach my essays.”
So in the summer of 2025, Kosel joined 12 other students in a two-week program targeting underserved high schoolers and first-generation students like her. Funded by the Teagle Foundation, the Examined Life Scholars program introduces underserved high school students to college-level coursework and campus resources. A recent $295,000 grant from the Teagle Foundation will allow the program to expand into a residential experience.
For Dr. Elizabeth Corey, Honors Program director and one of the program’s leaders, the grant represents a significant opportunity.
“It will enable students to live on campus and experience college life more fully,” Corey said.
Many of the students in the program are the first in their families to consider college, Corey said, meaning they often lack guidance through the complex application process.
“There’s a lot that goes into an application — from essays to FAFSA to scholarships and financial planning,” Corey said. “We’re trying to give them in two weeks what some students get over years, plus ongoing mentorship through their senior year. We even cover college application fees, so cost doesn’t become a barrier.”
To measure whether this expansion is successful in the long term, the program leaders will keep a close eye on these students, monitor whether they go to college and graduate and conduct exit interviews after the program ends.
“We’ll keep tabs on what they end up doing,” Corey said.
The program was piloted in May 2025 with a small group of students from the Waco area who read and discussed texts by authors such as Aristotle and Plato. It aims to serve low-income and first-generation students by strengthening their college applications and expanding their access to higher education.
The first day for Kosel was unexpected.
“It was very new to me because in high school, only the teacher was talking — you just did your work and turned it in,” Kosel said. “You don’t really get much understanding or depth. I got a good sense of what we were reading, and I felt like I was on a very accomplished level.”
After completing the program, Kosel applied to eight or nine colleges and was accepted to all of them.
“I felt that the program really helped me because I went into my applications very strongly,” Kosel said. “My overall outlook on college changed.”
Peyton Morales, a University High School student, also attended the program last summer and said the learning format was different from her high school classes.
“It was more discussion-based and more welcoming,” Morales said. “No one made you feel dumb or looked at you as stupid. Everyone was interested in learning and hearing your opinion.”
This program helped Morales with her confidence and critical thinking skills. She said she learned how to decipher texts and make connections between different texts through her work in the program.
“I am more hopeful about my college application process,” Morales said. “They helped me realize that I am not a bad student.”
Additionally for this program, an undergraduate student at Baylor serves as a mentor to these students, guiding them through their application process. Morales said her mentor was like a big sister to her.
Oklahoma City sophomore Jay Abbott was interested in becoming a mentor because of the ESL program’s mission to give access to the liberal arts to everyone.
“This program is inviting students who may have been told that they won’t go to college,” Abbott said. “The cost shouldn’t prohibit people from receiving a liberal arts education.”
Mentors supported students during seminars by answering questions, building relationships with students, modeling professional behavior and offering guidance on the college application process. They also helped in application workshops and shared meals with students to create a supportive environment.
After the program ended, each mentor was paired with three students and followed up monthly to track their college application progress.
“We would meet up for lunch once a month,” Abbott said. “I helped them with questions about financial aid, worked with them on their essays and tried to help them manage stress.”
Kosel said having continued access to a mentor made the college application process less overwhelming.
“Knowing I had a mentor I could reach out to made a huge difference,” Kosel said. “Even late at night, when I was stuck on my essay, I could text him and he would help me work through it.”
