Earlier this month, reporter April Morton with “Live in the D,” caught up with college student Preston Welborne.
They walked the halls of his alma mater, The Detroit School of Arts High School, located in midtown Detroit. Welborne reminisced on his time there.
“Sometimes I would interview guests here,” he said, talking about the studio they used for his radio/TV class.
He went on to show the other areas he spent time in, all related to his love and passion for media arts and theater production. This is something he discovered at an early age. But the school made him believe this could actually become a real career.
“I knew as a kid I was interested in that space, but didn’t know where to go,” Welborne said. “Coming to DSA gave me a platform.”
That experience would give him the tools necessary to pursue his dreams, but he wanted to continue learning after graduating in 2017. Thanks to a program in Detroit, he was able to.
Welborne said just before graduating, he wondered how he was going to pay for college. He remembered his school talking about the “Detroit Promise” program, which offers tuition assistance for Detroit students.
He credits the program for helping him achieve his goal of obtaining an associates degree from Oakland Community College, and now pursuing his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan-Dearborn.
The Detroit Promise program offers a tuition-free path to a two-year, four-year or trade school in Michigan. Overall, 26 schools participate in the program.
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