Better Make Room is Michelle Obama’s final mark on an illustrious reign as First Lady. In keeping with the rest of her time in the White House, “Better Make Room” is a campaign that targets the wellbeing of America’s upcoming generation, between the ages of 13 and 19. However, instead of improving the hearts and waistlines of high school students, “Better Make Room” is an effort to empower students to dream big and go to college.
The campaign website, bettermakeroom.org, looks somewhat like a Twitter feed. On top of the homepage is a prompt. It says, “Saying things out loud makes them happen, tell us how you’ll reach higher,” and below are several posts that students have written with aspirations to become a cardiothoracic surgeon or speak Chinese.
The website claims that, “Better Make Room is about creating a space for all the great things you’ll do next.” They have partnered with the company Up Next to send students text messages that remind and motivate them to meet application and payment deadlines for school.
“Better Make Room” is part of the First Lady’s “Reach Higher” initiative, which strives to give America the highest proportion of college students in the world by 2020. Reaching this goal involves support for college counselors, exposure to college and career options for high school students and guidelines for academic and financial planning for the future.
Although the program does not offer any special scholarships or financial aid subsidies to make college more affordable, it does provide information on how to plan a budget, how to apply for FAFSA (Free Application For Student Aid) and more.
“Better Make Room” also partners with several organizations that do offer college scholarships such as the Williams Family Foundation and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation.
In addition to the information and worksheets that the initiative offers to help students and their families find an affordable and interesting college, “Better Make Room” is partnering with several social media companies as well in an effort to empower students to use their own voice and encourage each other on an aspirational and inspiration platform. One such social media platform is Vine.
This campaign’s media savvy and DIY approach will hopefully empower students to use the tools provided by the program and find all of the financial and organizational resources they need.
Ruby Samuels
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