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Kearns • Growing up in the rural Sanpete County town of Fairview, Utah Lt. Governor Spencer Cox said Monday, it wasn't common to enroll in college after high school.
Cox said his father attended college for two years but was compelled to drop out, making Cox the first family member to earn a bachelor's degree.
"I'm so grateful for that opportunity because it changed my life," he said.
Cox's remarks came during an assembly for senior students at Kearns High School, kicking off the school's College Application Week.
The lieutenant governor said that statistics suggested he and his siblings would never go to college, get a job or have successful careers. But he proved the statistics wrong.
"Screw statistics," he said. "They don't mean anything."
More than 100 Utah high schools are launching college application weeks this month in a statewide effort to boost postsecondary enrollment.
The event, in which students are given an opportunity to submit applications at school with the aid of counselors and teachers, is in its fourth year. In 2015, a total of 21,476 college applications were submitted by roughly 20,000 students, according to the Utah System of Higher Education.
Kearns High School counselor Anya May said 96 percent of the school's seniors submitted an application last year.
"One hundred percent is always the goal," she said.
Utah Commissioner of Higher Education Dave Buhler said many students, and particularly first-generation college students, are unfamiliar with the process of selecting schools, applying for enrollment and securing financial aid.
By applying early, and with the help from school counselors, students are better able to consider their options and plan for the future, he said.
"Sometimes high school students, even if they're planning to go to college, don't realize they need to apply before next August," Buhler said.
Cox stressed the importance of postsecondary education in his speech to students.
He mentioned the 2008 financial crisis, and described the millions of jobs that were lost during the Great Recession, most of which were held by workers with only a high school degree.
He said that for many students, an associate degree or technical certificate is a better fit than a four-year university degree.
But independent of what programs and careers students choose to pursue, he said, the likelihood for success increases with some form of higher education.
"We want you to have your wildest dreams come true," he said. "That can only happen if you don't see high school as the end."
Twitter: @bjaminwood