Within the first week of my term as a high school senior coach with College Possible, I met a student who was passionate about nursing. During session, she pulled me aside. Wide-eyed and determined, she told me she wanted to be a pediatric oncologist and had her heart set on a particular nursing program at a private university in the area.
After school one day, she met me at an open house at the university. The admissions representatives briefed prospective students on eligibility requirements and the types of courses they could take during their time in classes and in clinical. At the end of a presentation, I looked over at the student and there were tears brimming in her eyes. “Everything OK?” I asked, worried. She smiled back and said to me, “I just want this so bad, miss.”
We heard back about this student’s application within a week of her submission. The university required a statement of academic circumstance that would shed light on her scores that fell below the requirements. This student showed incredible determination and focus, plotting out her essay and revising it for hours. When the time came to send it to the university, the same tears came to her eyes. This time, I became teary, too, “I want this for you.”
At a little after 8 p.m., a text lit up my phone: a screen shot of an acceptance letter from the university into the nursing program. Relief, triumph and joy swept through me. She’s on her way.
-Sarah Sims, AmeriCorps member and College Possible coach