People often ask me why I do this work. The answer is simple: because I know what it is like to be the student sitting on the other side of the table.
I first joined College Possible as a high school student at Riverside University High School. At the time, I was navigating a lot of change at home while trying to answer questions I wasn’t prepared for. Questions like: “Where are you applying to college?”, “What do you want to study?”, and “What’s next after graduation?”
The truth was, I didn’t know. I knew college was important, but I did not know how to get there. I didn’t understand financial aid, scholarships, or college applications. Like many first-generation students, I was trying to navigate a system that felt completely unfamiliar.
College Possible changed that. I still remember sitting in after-school sessions learning how to complete the FAFSA line by line and visiting college campuses. For the first time, I began to think, maybe I really do belong here.
Having someone in my corner who believed in me made the biggest difference.
During my senior year, health issues and home stress began to affect my grades and ACT scores. I felt like my future was slipping away. My advisor, Holly, sat beside me and helped me write a letter explaining my circumstances to colleges. Because she took the time to understand my story and didn’t define me by my transcript, I was accepted into the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh through a probationary admissions program.
That opportunity changed my life. I completed a summer bridge program, regained my confidence, made the Dean’s List, and graduated from college.
I have now come full circle. I first returned to College Possible as an AmeriCorps Transition Coach, moved into a program coordinator role, and now I serve as a full-time expert advisor. Every day, I have the privilege of working with students who remind me of myself: bright, hardworking, and full of potential, but often carrying challenges that no one else can see.
What I have learned is that changing a student’s life rarely happens because of one big moment. It happens through consistency: answering the text message about financial aid, sitting together through the FAFSA, encouraging a student to apply for the college they do not think they can get into. It is reminding them that one difficult semester does not define who they are or what they are capable of.
Sometimes, the most powerful thing you can say to a student is, “You belong here.”
That’s what someone did for me. Now, I have the opportunity to do the same for others.
To learn more about the impact College Possible has on the students we serve, click here to see our alumni impact.
