One student toured New York University in 7th grade. Another visited Hunter College. But most of the 15 high school juniors and seniors had never stepped on a university campus before, let alone one outside of New York City. 

That changed last fall, when a group of students from Queens Technical High School and Aviation High School came to Newark, Delaware. They walked The Green, attended classes, ate at Russell Dining Hall, toured the residence halls and gained a first-hand perspective of college life. 

The trip was the brainchild of UD Honors College graduates Paul King, Class of 2009, and Neil Redfield, Class of 2014. 

A lifelong learner and educator, King studied chemistry at UD before teaching English as a Second Language in a rural public school in southern Thailand. After returning to the United States in 2012, he began private tutoring, which morphed into King Education, LLC, in 2015.  Redfield, who earned his honors bachelor’s degree with distinction in anthropology, has worked with King since 2021, primarily assisting students in math.  

When the idea of an out-of-state college tour emerged, the duo chose to visit their alma mater, exposing young minds to UD’s “excellent professors, variety of majors and endless opportunities,” as King put it. 

“New York City is a concrete jungle. There’s no comparable quad or campus,” he said. 

Added Redfield, “We wanted students to hear the carillon bells, see kids walking the campus between classes.” 

The two worked closely with UD’s Office of Admissions, as well as King’s professor, mentor and friend, Patricia Sloane-White. Half the students attended White’s “Women and Girlhood in Asia” course, while the remaining half attended a course taught by her husband, Owen. His class, “The European City: London and Paris in the Modern Age,” examined the European subway systems. To help his high school visitors better engage with the content, the UD professor made a point to compare the European subway to New York City’s. 

The high school students seemed to relish their experience. Sayuri Chavez, a senior at Queens Technical, envisioned herself studying in countries across the globe through UD’s World Scholars Program. Senior Jeffrey Guaman contemplated a degree in cybersecurity, while junior Anandhu Poollulangara considered the 400+ clubs he’d want to join.

For King and Redfield, that palpable excitement was precisely the goal. 

“Even though these kids are from cosmopolitan New York, many of them have never left their neighborhoods,” said King. “We wanted to show them a world of opportunity awaits — and one of the best options is just a short ride down the turnpike.”