May first connected with College Possible Minnesota during her junior year at Roseville High School. A Saint Paul native, May comes from a large family with high expectations. However, as many first-generation college students experience, her family wasn’t able to provide much support during her college exploration journey.
As a student from a low-income household and the first in her family to attend college, May said she received advice from her sister, who was also a student in the College Possible program, but she needed more advice than her sister was able to provide. May’s coach Kylie was able to help her narrow down her college choices and find the right scholarships to apply for. May shares, “[My college coach] helped me through step by step and was always there for me. So, I felt really appreciative. They made a really big impact on me.” College Possible events like Metro Visit Days also helped her decided on the nursing program at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.
May credits her College Possible coach with helping her transition to college life. Moving from the isolation of high school during the COVID-19 pandemic to the hustle and bustle of a college campus proved to be more challenging than she expected. “I feel like high school and college are hard enough. And then you throw in the pandemic and isolation into the mix,” she explains. “I went from seeing no one to seeing so many people from on this campus. College Possible helped me just ease into college. I thought that [coach support] was going to be similar to high school, but College Possible in college is checking in on how you are doing and providing resources and emotional support throughout the whole school year. It was just more about having someone I could trust, someone I could go to whenever I’m feeling some sort of way about school.”
Some days, May felt overwhelmed with schoolwork and says that College Possible was there to support her in setting goals, building time management skills, and working through steps that enabled her to feel more secure. “It’s a really good reminder to just take a step back and breathe and understand the bigger picture,” shares May. “My goal is just to notice and appreciate the positive things that are going on in my life. And also, to then bring change to other people because, you know, they made an impact on me. So, I think I should be able to do that to other people, too.”
Do you know a student like May who might benefit from free college coaching? Learn more about the resources available to students in your area.
