Why I Decided to Go to College - Interview with Summit Alum Angel Beltran

Angel Beltran started coming to Summit with his younger brother when he was in the 6th grade. He graduated from Ronald Reagan High School this past spring, and is currently a Freshman at the University of Wisconsin - Madison where he plans to study Engineering.

What is your favorite part about Summit?

My favorite part about Summit was playing sports, especially soccer, with my friends. I also really liked connecting with the counselors.

How have your experiences at Summit helped you with school?

Many of the career speakers and counselors that I’ve had at Summit influenced my decision to go to college. The character talks helped me to become a better person. I learned about time management, study habits and organization and how to use it in my life. All of these things helped me with studying for school and balancing my time to get ready for college.

What inspired you to go to college? Why did you chose to attend UW-Madison?

While going on the college trips with Summit, my friends and I were able to look at a lot of different colleges and what it was like there. It really helped me to narrow down which colleges to apply to. I decided to come to Madison because we visited a few times with Summit and I knew they had a good engineering program. I also really liked it here. Many of the counselors at Summit influenced my decision to come here because this is where they went to school. They encouraged me to apply and gave me tips and advice, which was great!

Summit Character Talks focus on learning about what it truly means to be a friend. How has that helped you make new friends in college?

I like to be social and hang out with friends in my free time. I think that Summit has helped me to gain confidence to approach new people and make friends in college.