SU Splash is a program designed to introduce high school students to learning in unconventional ways. High school students come to our college campus for a one-day event in which they sign up for classes taught by students, staff, and faculty from the University, as well as other volunteer teachers from around the community.

Our goal for this program was to not only “make a Splash”, but also reinvent the concept of Splash through the lens of the liberal arts education, since we are the first liberal arts college to hold a Splash program. This project incorporates so many lessons we learn in the classroom about creating a community worth living in. This year’s Splash welcomed over 50 high school students who took classes in subjects such as “Psychology of Happiness” and “Exploring the World of Dreaming,” not to mention “Put Your Best Face Forward” (lessons in beauty and skin care).

In class we often focus on a designated curriculum and aren’t often given the chance to create our own. The beauty of this program is that students are only committed to their choice for a few hours at most, and we as Splash organizers see this as cause for students to take more chances at trying something new.

Our eventual goal for this program is to create an established group that can not only put on this singular phenomenal event, but also introduce high school students to the liberal arts and Southwestern, and have an impact on Southwestern’s prospective student recruitment. Yes, we are ambitious!