After two quiet summers on campus with camps and programs moved online, the Brickyard will be full again as it hosts thousands of students from across the world for its numerous summer camps and pre-college programs.
These programs are hosted by nearly every department across the University and offer a diverse set of opportunities for elementary through high school students, with every interest you can imagine.
Giving students the opportunity to experience campus life before applying to college can change their lives, giving them the opportunity to envision themselves in higher education.
Here are just a few of the unique and exciting programs happening on NC State’s campus this summer.
Design Lab, the College of Design’s outreach program, is hosting four camps throughout the summer for middle and high school students interested in learning more about design.
Their middle school day camp for rising sixth through eighth grade students will take place on campus June 27 to July 1 and again Aug. 8-12. This camp focuses on design thinking and the design process and gives students exposure to all disciplines of design.
The high school day camp for rising ninth through 12th grade students will also occur Aug. 8-12 and will give students the opportunity to work on several studio projects in different disciplines throughout the week.
Ashley Davis, the director of pre-college programming for Design Lab, said these camps are vital for increasing access and exposure to design before college.
“Design Camp is really about informing students about the study of design and trying to help raise awareness of the impact of design,” Davis said. “Design really does impact everybody’s lives every day, so our programming is a great place for students to learn, get some experience with design, introduce themselves to design and explore the different fields within design.”
Design Lab hosts two residential camps: one for rising 10th through 12th grade students July 10-16 and Design Immersions for rising 11th and 12th grade students July 24-30. These camps give older high school students a realistic taste of campus life and an opportunity to engage on a deeper level with counselors and faculty as well as with their projects.
Design Immersions is a new program as of summer 2021 during which students focus on a single discipline within design and have the opportunity to complete a portfolio quality project throughout the week.
“One of the most special things about Design Camp is that [it] can be a safe space for students,” said Abby Bagwell, the coordinator of pre-college programs for Design Lab. “Because it’s very different from the education they may have received in middle school and high school … They realize that their perspective is really valuable in design. We need every type of person to be able to have the opportunity to become a designer and have a seat at the table in the conversation about decisions that are made in our lives.”
Undergraduate Admissions offers three different pre-college programs meant to provide high school juniors and seniors in historically underrepresented student populations with access, information and support through the college admissions process. Each of the programs focus on a certain cultural identity for students who either identify with or have an interest in that identity. Throughout the programs, students have access to college advising, admissions essays assistance and application process overviews.
The CAMINOS program focuses on Latinx and Hispanic cultures and will take place June 19-23.
The Emerging Scholars Academy focuses on Black and African American cultures and will take place June 12-18.
The Native Education Forum focuses on American Indian and Native American cultures and will take place June 12-18 as well.
“I think the biggest value in [these programs] is the idea of access and exposure,” said Justin Richardson, senior assistant director of Undergraduate Admissions. “They’re a good way to welcome students onto campus and see how it feels to move around and navigate it and get full exposure … It’s about decreasing some of the initial cultural shock. Hopefully they’ll choose NC State, but we don’t pressure them. We want to make sure they find the school that’s the best fit for themselves.”
The Department of English is hosting two two-week writers workshops throughout the summer. Young Writers Workshop is geared towards nine to 14 year-olds and will occur July 11-22. Teen Writers Workshop is for 15 to 18 year-olds and will take place July 25 to Aug. 5.
These workshops are meant to provide kids of all experience levels with an opportunity to improve their technical and creative writing skills. NC State faculty in addition to visiting writers and professors will teach classes in fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, dramatic writing and genre fiction. Over the two week period, students come to campus every weekday to take two courses in genres of their choosing. The department produces a print anthology of pieces that students have completed over the course of the two weeks at the end of each workshop.
“The objective is for them, in the quick amount of time that we have with them, to improve something they have already, create something brand new and then also give them something to think about and some skills and some inspiration to take with them to continue this art in their own creative writing elsewhere,” said Bill Lawrence, director of Young Writers Workshop and professor in writing and research at NC State.
In addition to these programs, NC State will host numerous other programs throughout the summer including Ag-DISCOVERY, VetCamp and a broad selection of engineering camps. A complete list of pre-college summer programs can be found on NC State’s pre-college programs homepage.
