Maya Enista Smith, CEO of Mobilize.org (a website dedicated to issues impacting the Millennial Generation), outlines some pivotal questions that were recently asked of 100 community college students - and reveals how solutions to educational challenges facing Millennials can come about through the simple process of asking.

Below, find blog posts from Millennial students reflecting on academic success. Stay tuned for additional Mobilize.org student voice spotlights in future weekly features. 

In March 2012, Mobilize.org will turn ten years old. As I reflect on this exciting organizational milestone, and my six years with Mobilize.org, I'm often asked what makes our work unique and successful. I wish I had a complicated, patented answer to share with you, but it's really quite simple. We ask young people what challenges they are facing, and we empower them to solve them. The Mobilize.org secret to engagement is best summed up in two words: Just Ask. 

In 2007, the network of Mobilize.org had grown to thousands of young people on campuses across all 50 states and while their issues were diverse, their experiences unique, there was one common message that we heard resonate among each of the young people we worked with. They were fed up with the narrative that they were "future leaders", instead of being recognized for their immense capacity to impact change – today. This frustration, and the call for leadership shaped the programming of Mobilize.org and our innovative public engagement model. Mobilize.org facilitates an authentic process for a group of Millennials to identify problems and propose solutions, then receive awards as investments in a variety of projects that address issues on their and inMore than thirty six Millennial-led projects have been funded over the past four years, at 10 Mobilize.org Summits.

Most recently, we convened 100 community college students in San Jose, CA to discuss the obstacles that they face to completing their degree, work collaboratively to propose solutions and compete for funding to implement those solutions. We were proud to fund 7 Millennial-led projects and more information about our investments is included here: http://mobilize.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Target2020_CA_Results_Final.pdf, but equally important, were the conversations that occurred during our two-day convening, the results of which I wanted to share here. We asked the students three important questions: 

• What challenges do community college students face in completing their education?
• What can government officials do to improve college completion rates in California?
• What can Millennials do to ensure we achieve our collective and individual academic goals?

For the first question, our students answered that financial barriers and lack of awareness of campus resources (financial aid, tutoring, etc.) were the most critical challenge. Connected, we also found that the students that had those resources on their campus had insufficient knowledge and support of how to access them. The second question found that students felt as though the elected officials that represent them did not make education a priority and even more unfortunately, they felt as though they (as students, and their institutions) were overlooked and they hope that elected officials give community colleges and their students more "credit" for their hard work, innovation and contribution to the community. Lastly, they are looking to their elected officials to take bold steps to increase access to financial aid and reform the qualification process. On the last question, we asked students what their responsibility to themselves and each other was in order to complete their degree. In each of the top three responses, the idea of peer mentorship was a common theme and students were also very supportive of a need to increase the sense of "community" on campus and the vital role students play in that.

The question that we ask ourselves, in light of this information, is – what are we doing about? If we know the challenges and the opportunities that even a small portion of the community college population is facing, then we have to act. Here's what Mobilize.org is doing to increase community college student engagement and providing continuous opportunities for us to ask them, and for them to tell us: http://mobilize.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Target2020_CA_Results_Final.pdf. As you ask yourself what you can do, continue what you're already doing and engage students in what you may not think is yet possible, please consider us a resource and let this be my ask to you: What do you need, and how can Mobilize.org help?

For more information on Mobilize.org, please visit www.mobilize.org or follow us on Twitter (@mob_org)