Group showing path for future

Kalen Smith graduated from Abbeville High School in 1998 and wrapped up a degree from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette five years later.
Smith is now part of a group, including Dillon Briggs of Maurice and a host of others, whose mission is to show Vermilion Parish students a similar path. Smith is vice president and CFO of the non-profit Developing Young Professionals Inc. (DYPS).
“Our mission at DYPS is to mentor kids as well as expose them to places and environments that will enhance future life decisions,” Smith said. “We want to open their minds. We want to show them options and show them what is available.”
The mantra at DYPS is “It’s hard to have a vision if you’ve never seen anything.” With that in mind, the group recently launched its first effort, the “2015 College Tour Project.” The tour has brought or will bring Vermilion Parish students from 7th through 12th grades to five different universities and colleges this semester.
The group visited the University of Louisiana at Lafaytte on Oct. 19 and South Louisiana Community College on Oct. 20.
“On our recent trip to UL/SLCC,” Smith explained, “students got a chance to visit the campus, spend some time with actual UL students, learn about Greek life, eat on campus at the cafeteria, and visit classrooms.
“We want to let them see, touch and really feel what a campus is like.”
The next stop is McNeese State University in Lake Charles on Nov. 7. Then it’s off to Baton Rouge to visit Southern University on Nov. 14. The fall tour will conclude on Nov. 23 in New Orleans, with visits to Xavier University and Dillard University.
“Our goal is to give the students a chance to experience college life and exactly what it entails,” Smith said. “We hope to create the spark in these kids to want to continue their education after high school and beyond.”
Organizers of DYPS are already looking beyond the fall tour.
“We plan to continue these tours every semester,” Smith said.
The tour for spring 2016 will include LSU, LSU Eunice, Northwestern State University, Grambling University and Nicholls State University.
“We at DYPS believe that these college visits are the key components needed in our kids lives to ensure an enriching future,” Smith said.
These campus tours do not pinpoint a particular future.
“We are visiting campuses outside of the four-year institutions,” Smith said. “We are visiting SLCC and LSUE. We want to give them options. Four-year colleges are not for everybody. At the same time, we want to show kids there is more you can do besides stay home and twiddle your fingers. You can get a trade or an associates degree in many different things.
“There are so many options out there and we want to open their eyes to all of those options.”
For more information on DYPS, visit www.facebook.com/dypsinc.
“If you have any questions or any interest in showing support and/or donating, please feel free to reach out to us at DYPSINC@gmail.com,” Smith said.
Smith said he hopes people can get behind what he and his fellow organizers at DYPS feel is such a worthwhile cause.
“We want these kids to have the want and need to get to the next level,” Smith said. “This is a push to put in their faces the options that will help them be successful. With this generation, if they can’t touch it or see it, then it doesn’t exist.
“Being able to put this in their faces and show them options and avenues to get there is really what we are trying to do.”