USU STARS GEAR UP Alumni Reflect on the Program’s Life-Changing Impact
Annie Scarber leads a group of Valley Middle School students on a tour of Utah State University in spring 2026. She is reminded of just a few years ago when she was in their shoes – on a campus tour with USU STARS GEAR UP, a federally funded college and career readiness program in her high school. She shares her favorite study spots and what it's like to go to college. She credits the program with providing the resources and confidence she needed to pursue higher education after graduation.
Students being led on a college tour
Learning about educational opportunities
USU STARS GEAR UP works with partner schools across Utah in under-resourced communities, providing college and career awareness, readiness, and support to students who might be the first in their families to obtain any post-secondary education or training. The staff serves an entire grade, or cohort, of students at a school, starting in seventh grade and continuing to work with the same students through the first year of college or trade school. Site coordinators at each school work with administrators and teachers to plan activities that meet the needs of their school community, such as college visits, financial aid awareness nights for parents and students, tutoring, academic support, and college and career tours.
“I met the GEAR UP coordinators in middle school, and I didn’t realize the extent of the resources I had until my sophomore or junior year of high school,” recalled Scarber.
As alums are working on their post-secondary journeys, one GEAR UP alum shared that the program influenced her path by paying the Advanced Placement exam fees and providing access to resources through vendor partnerships such as Grammarly and Tutor.com. For Marisol Villalobos, a University of Utah student now studying biology, these resources became available after moving back to Utah from another state.
“I was excited to find out GEAR UP would pay the placement test fees,” Villalobos said. “I had to cover them on my own before.”
Other GEAR UP alumni recognized that going on college bus tours in high school was a major benefit to the program. The tours allow them to experience campuses firsthand and receive individualized guidance afterward to help determine which schools and pathways fit their goals.
Specifically, alumni pointed to a bus tour of Southern Utah colleges they attended as one of the most impactful experiences they had through GEAR UP. Aubree Whitman, a current USU STARS GEAR UP college adviser and GEAR UP alumn, graduated from a small high school in Sanpete County. She said the bus tour to Southern Utah reshaped her college plans.
“I loved the Utah Tech campus so much more than I expected,” Whitman said. “Getting the exposure helped me decide I would be comfortable there.”
Other students learned that the most well-known universities aren’t always the right fit. Tristin Clifford, a student at Neumont University, said GEAR UP campus tours helped him decide that a smaller, specialized campus was a better match for his goals.
“I was able to visualize what the difference of the campuses would be and what my life could be like at each one,” Clifford said.
Casey Valerio, a Granger High School alumn, recalled feeling overwhelmed with the amount of information presented during college tours, but they also left her optimistic about her future.
“It made me excited to pursue higher education,” Valerio said.
For Brooklynn Sorenson, a psychology student at the University of Utah, GEAR UP had the greatest impact by showing her where she could continue her education outside Utah.
“I’ll need a master’s degree for a good job, so I’ll be in school a lot longer,” Sorenson said.
Sorenson is considering attending a university in Oregon for her master’s degree, inspired by a school she visited during a spring break bus tour. She also went on a bus tour to Northern California last summer.
“I loved learning that life isn’t confined to Utah if I don’t want it to be,” Sorenson said.
Although the number of options felt overwhelming at times, Sorenson said GEAR UP site coordinators helped her understand that her future is flexible and she doesn’t need to have everything figured out immediately.
“I love that I can focus on what I want, but there’s flexibility,” Sorenson said.
Sorenson became involved in Granger High School’s College and Career club early on in high school. She appreciated having site coordinators readily available throughout her high school experience.
“It was so helpful to have coordinators who were so open and willing to work with you,” Sorenson said.
GEAR UP staff work closely with students to identify their interests and find programs and career paths that are aligned with those interests. Villalobos, for example, is taking a variety of biology classes as she explores potential career paths. While she is interested in genetics, she is also considering botany or zoology.
“I’m trying to see what I like the most, and I’ll be able to build a career path around it,” Villalobos said.
Valerio is wrapping up a gap year she took immediately after graduating from high school. An August 2026 bus tour she attended reminded her that higher education will be there when she’s ready.
“GEAR UP reassured me it’s not too late,” Valerio said.
Looking back, many alumni said they wish they had gotten involved with GEAR UP earlier. Now pursuing a variety of post-secondary pathways, they encourage the program’s current 6,000 middle and early high school students to take advantage of opportunities available to them.
As a college adviser, Whitman is excited to see the impact GEAR UP has on her students.
Each alumn is headed down a different path, but they are taking guidance and encouragement from school site coordinators and college advisers along the way.