CCE student Tony Etheridge founded Access Greensboro, a program for students to connect and explore career opportunities post-college. (Taylor Shields)
Guilford College, with its many student-run teams, clubs, and organizations, prides itself on stewardship and community involvement. CCE student Toni Etheridge is no exception.
Etheridge founded Access Greensboro last November as a program through which students could socialize, network, and explore what professional life after college could offer, with Greensboro as the guide.
First stirred to action by motivating conversations in classes here at Guilford, Etheridge decided to turn that inspiration into something tangible.
“We look at the vibrancy of Greensboro,” said Etheridge. “We like to reach out to businesses or organizations to celebrate their existence.”
Students can use Access Greensboro to discover many of the professions that Greensboro has to offer and experience first-hand what life in the business world is like.
“As a community and justice studies major, I think a program that prepares students to leave the tight-knit Guilford community would really empower them as future professionals,” said senior Max MacClennen. “Plus we, as an educational institution, could benefit from linking the Greensboro community to campus in a new way.”
Another distinct dimension of this project is its media-driven existence, as all the interviews with local businesses are posted and predominantly accessible via YouTube.
“The ongoing goal is always to just try to network with businesses and decision-makers to see if they wouldn’t mind us promoting their business,” said Etheridge. “It’s a plus for them as well, because they can maybe target a different audience that they had not been able to access before.”
Etheridge’s idea to involve the popular video-sharing website in her endeavor highlights Access Greensboro’s relevance to today’s college students through its progressive approach to fostering community dialogue.
“Using YouTube for a Guilford-grown organization is really unique,” said sophomore and psychology major Marisa Bowers. “I’d consider myself a student who is interested in finding volunteer opportunities here, and that definitely grabs my attention.”
Etheridge hopes that students will be motivated by the degree of creative freedom ingrained in the organization and recognize the potential opportunity to volunteer within the community.
“As far as students are concerned, their participation would be rounded into several things: they’d be able to host, they would be doing work in contacting business owners and talking to them, and then there’s an opportunity for them to actually do videotaping also,” said Etheridge.
One volunteer, 14-year-old Aaron Griggs, is Access Greensboro’s current videographer.
Etheridge says that once Access Greensboro has gained the support and participation it needs, she hopes it will make a lasting connection between Greensboro’s students and the professional community.
“I’m still in the beginning, just trying to garner awareness by reaching out to various college communities to get students to develop an interest in it,” Etheridge said.
To learn more about Access Greensboro, visit the YouTube domain accessgreensboro1.