Climbing Higher and “From Mission Impossible to Mission Possible”

Introduction: Hi, I’m Courtney Jorgensen. This submission is about a project I did as part of my inclusive higher education program (Aggies Elevated at Utah State University, USU) and how that project represents some amazing aspects of the program.

Each year USU invites the different school clubs and organizations to create a design that represents their group and then paint it on a section of the road on campus. Last year (2019) our Aggies Elevated instructors told us about this and showed us a picture of the design they had done the year before. I decided I wanted to try and create the design for our Aggies Elevated group that year. I chose the Aggies Elevated logo as my inspiration. This was my final design.

Looking at my design, you can see there are a lot of things about it that represent the Aggies Elevated experience. For instance:

• The color: Blue is one of the school colors of USU, which is the home of the Aggies Elevated program. The different shades of blue are like the different people in the program. We each have our own unique strengths and challenges.
• The mountains: The increasing heights of the mountains represent the obstacles we face in life. As we overcome small challenges, we develop the strength, skills, and confidence to tackle and overcome greater challenges.
• The initials: In this design the “E” appears to be supporting the “A.” In Aggies Elevated, the amazing staff and mentors teach and support us. The students also help one another in different ways. The “A” at the top of the highest summit could represent reaching our potential.

The Aggies Elevated program truly is about helping each other and learning to “Climb Higher.”

One of the ways the Aggies Elevated staff helped me was to suggest I consider submitting a presentation for the State of the Art Student Leadership Conference this year (2020). The topic I chose for that was about overcoming obstacles to attending an inclusive higher education program, like Aggies Elevated, and how to prepare for that. That way other students could have the same amazing kind of opportunity I have had. That presentation is titled “From Mission Impossible to Mission Possible.”