Category: Student Stories

“On my first day of school in the United States, the teacher gave us all an assignment,” Rashid recalls. “In Kenya, you don’t call teachers by their last name — you call them ‘teacher.’ So when I needed help I raised my hand and said, ‘Teacher, teacher.’”

“People started laughing at me,” he says.

School was a difficult adjustment for Rashid, who came to the U.S. halfway through high school.

“My accent was different. It was hard for me to adapt. But six months later, I joined the school’s soccer team. I’ve been playing soccer since I was 8 years old. I started adapting to the culture and making friends.”

It was tragedy that spurred his family to migrate. “My father died in the civil war in Kenya. My mom, three younger brothers and sisters and I came to the United States so we could get a better education.”

“I’m facing a lot of challenges,” explains Rashid. It’s a struggle for his mom, who works at a local warehouse, to work while taking care of him and his siblings. “I need to try my best to make money to help my family and pay my bills.”

Figuring out how college and financial aid works in the U.S.

It was difficult to figure out how college works, especially in a new country. “I will be the first in my family to attend college,” says Rashid.

“In my senior year, I hadn’t filled out any college applications. I didn’t do my FAFSA. All the students were talking about that stuff, but I didn’t know about it.”

“One day, all the seniors were called into the auditorium and I met a lady named Ms. Clemens from I Know I Can. I said, ‘Hey, Ms. Clemens, what is FAFSA?’ She told me to come to her office at the school, so I did.”

“I asked, ‘How does FAFSA help? What does it do?’ Another question I had was if the money from it was free or if I had to pay it back. She told me that some of the money was free, so I was a little bit excited. Because I come from a low-income family, I can’t pay for college by myself.”

Ms. Clemens gave Rashid a list of things he needed to gather to fill out the FAFSA, which included his mom’s income.

Getting the information he needed from his mom

When Rashid asked his mom for her income information, she had questions of her own.

“I had to include my mom’s income when she worked at a salon in Kenya. They helped me convert it to U.S. dollars for the FAFSA.”

“She asked me, ‘Why do you need it? What is it for?’ I started explaining that the FAFSA will help me pay for college since we can’t pay the college money. Then, she told me it was okay.”

But it wasn’t that simple. “I also had to include her former income, but that was when she worked at a salon in Kenya. Ms. Clemens helped me convert it to U.S. dollars so I could put the number in the FAFSA.”

Rashid started filling out the FAFSA himself, but found he needed help. “It was confusing. I asked Ms. Clemens to help me. We finished everything together. Other people were finishing the FAFSA in one day, but it took me two days to finish.”

Looking back, Rashid says it was worth it. “In the middle of the form, I was thinking, this is taking too long. But then I was thinking, who is going to pay for college? That got me to keep going.”

Rashid’s advice: Stay positive

“I just want to say one thing: have a positive mind. Fill out the FAFSA. There is nothing to be afraid of. It is free money you are getting.”

“Even if it doesn’t cover everything, it might cover some of the cost. It depends on your income and your parent’s income, too,” adds Rashid.

“This is for the students who don’t have money to pay for college. It helps them get a chance to go to college and succeed in life. I think everyone can achieve their goals and dreams if you stick to it and do what is right.”

Rashid will be attending Columbus State University and plans to study medical engineering or another medical field. “I’m good at science and math,” he says. He hopes to play soccer in college, too.

“I really like working. I work at a sandwich shop. It’s kind of like Subway, but not a chain. Every morning, I get up and go slice all the vegetables and meat, then go to school. I come back after school and work more,” says Katie.

Besides the fact that she likes it, Katie works because she doesn’t get financial support from her parents. “When I was 16, I went through the court system and ended up being placed in one of my sister’s custody,” she recalls.

“Working makes me feel good because I’m supporting myself.”

But Katie started stressing out about her plans after high school. “My sister, who I live with, is going to move after I graduate. I’m going to be completely on my own.”

How her sandwich shop coworkers inspired her

Katie wasn’t sure she could afford college — or if college was even a good idea. “My sisters told me you don’t always have to go to college to be successful.”

“The sister I live with went to college for six years. It was a struggle and she never got her degree. She has her dream job at a big company, but she has six years of student loan debt. My other sister went to college for one semester and dropped out. She makes good money as a photographer.”

It was her sandwich shop coworkers that cemented her decision to go to college.

“I was talking to them about trying to decide what to do next. One coworker said, ‘It is good for your sisters that they didn’t get a college degree and are doing well, but it’s not always easy. You get to a point where everyone else has a degree and you can’t compete.’ He told me he would get a degree if he could do it all over again.”

“I have coworkers in their 40s. Working at the sandwich shop is not a bad job, but it’s not what I want to be doing in my 40s or 50s. I realized not going to college would really limit my options.”

Once Katie decided she wanted to go to college, she had to figure out how to pay for it.

Getting help with the FAFSA

“I went to a FAFSA workshop at my school. A woman named Judy Kee Smith from the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission came and explained the FAFSA to us. I remember her name because she gave me her business card and I’ve kept it.”

“The sandwich shop is not a bad job, but it’s not what I want to be doing in my 40s.”

“She was so nice. She helped me fill out the FAFSA. If I didn’t understand a question, she phrased it a way that wasn’t hard to understand. We did it after school on a school computer.”

Because Katie was in her sister’s custody, she didn’t have to fill in her parent’s income information. “The FAFSA automatically put my family’s Estimated Financial Contribution as zero. I just had to put in my own information, like my Social Security number.”

“I found out I could go to college practically for free. I was so excited. It’s about $20,000 a year and $17,000 is covered. I’m going to have to take out maybe a $3,000 loan. My sisters have both said they support my decision.”

Katie’s advice: Don’t assume

“I had a lot of classmates say they weren’t going to fill out the FAFSA because they thought they wouldn’t qualify for anything. Fill it out anyway. It might be a little stressful, but it is not nearly as bad as people make it out to be.”

“In my situation, I didn’t even think I was going to be able to pay for college at all. I’m on my own so I was going to pay out of pocket no matter what I chose to do, but, because I filled out the FAFSA, I got these grants and scholarships.”

“I’m even going to a bigger college than I thought. I had just assumed it was too expensive for me.”

“I am thankful I decided to dig deeper into financial aid and fill out the FAFSA, and for the woman who helped me. Without her, I don’t think I’d be going to college.”

Katie will be attending West Virginia University and hasn’t declared a major. Because she learned Spanish in high school, she hopes to study abroad in Costa Rica.

“Back in 2010, my father passed away from a stroke. Around the same time, my mother was diagnosed with stage four melanoma, but she survived,” says Zachary.

“It was devastating. Being such a young kid, all of this hitting at once. I started working at age 16 to help pay the bills and help the family out. I have a lot of stress in my life.”

Zachary works two jobs while in school. “I work at an event center where I help clean and I’m a dietary aide at a nursing home. I help make sure our residents get correct meals based on their diets.”

“I want financial stability, which I don’t have now,” he explains. “I believe if I expand my knowledge and get a better education, I can better my life, make more money and meet new people.”

Daring for a different future

Zachary never thought college was a possibility. “I thought I wouldn’t go to college because I can’t afford it. I always thought I’d make minimum wage. No one else in my family went to college.”

“Every Friday, someone from the Educational Talent Search came to my school. Her name was June. She talked about how college was a good thing. That price does turn it down a little, but you can find your way through it if you really try.”

Zachary decided to talk to June and his guidance counselor. “They talked to me about the FAFSA and how to pay for college. I learned about the Pell Grant and loans I could take out.”

“I really couldn’t afford college. So I thought, why not give this a shot and see what happens?”

Filling out the FAFSA, despite some bumps in the road

“It was kind of easy, but then it got difficult,” Zachary explains.

“I had to give information about where I worked, how much money I made and how much money my mom makes. With a mom who works two jobs, is always busy, and is always hurting from the cancer surgery she got, it was hard to get her to help.”

Zachary remembers saying, “Mom, I really want to go to college. Could you just help me?” He explained that the FAFSA was an investment in his future. “She said, ‘Yes, of course.’”

His mom didn’t have an email address for creating an online account, so he created one for her. “She’s not good with computers,” he says. And then Zachary got locked out of his own online account himself.

“I always thought I’d make minimum wage. No one else in my family went to college.”

The four to five hours of work paid off, Zachary says. “When I finished and found out how much aid I was getting, I didn’t understand what it was and had to ask somebody to explain it. When I found out, I was ecstatic.”

“The college I’m going to gave me what’s called the Granite Guarantee, which means my tuition is 100 percent covered. I just have to pay for books, room and board. I have a $5,600 Pell Grant too after filling out the FAFSA and I’m eligible for a $5,500 loan with low interest rates.”

“I’m also applying for scholarships. I want to be an R.A., or resident assistant, in the dorms my sophomore year to get free room and board.”

He also got connected with a group called My Turn. “They had extra money and got me a laptop to bring to college. It’s really nice. They’re also giving me hookups for scholarships and helping me find another job during the summer before I leave.”

Zachary’s advice: Don’t make excuses

Zachary believes other students who want to go to college should push past their doubts and ask for help. “Life is full of excuses. Nine out of 10 of them are going to be invalid. Just do it.”

“Go to teachers, your guidance counselors, or even local people who come in who do different programs. Research the different programs around because there is plenty of help out there.”

He wants to help others too one day. “I want to give back someday. Maybe offer scholarships for high school kids. I want to say I started from the bottom — that I worked my way up and can give back to the community that helped me.”

Zachary will be attending the University of New Hampshire and studying civil technology. He hopes to have a career in architecture.

 

“In my neighborhood, I walk outside and hear gunshots. I come home and hope my house hasn’t been broken into. But I still dream big,” says Nick.

“I could be mad, but it helps when I focus on helping other people. I help tutor other students, from seniors on down. I’m student body president, so a lot of people know me. My dad was a preacher and I grew up watching my mom and dad help people a lot. I have seen how happy it made them,” Nick remembers.

Nick’s family expected him to go to college. “Even though my father didn’t go to college, he always stressed it and said a high school diploma wouldn’t get me anything. It will get me a starter job, but not something stable. If I didn’t go to college, he told me, I wouldn’t be living at home.”

Growing up, Nick thought he could go to any college he wanted and his dad would pay for it. But in 6th grade, Nick’s parents got divorced and his dad was out of his life.

The ups and downs of figuring out financial aid

“Paying for college was a major question because my dad was the money of the family. When I got to high school I was like, the time is almost here. How am I going to pay?”

“My friend dropped out of college sophomore year. He can’t get a job anywhere. I didn’t want to be in those shoes.”

Nick focused on doing well in basketball, thinking it would help pay for college. But it was a presentation at school that gave him hope.

“When I was a junior, a school counselor did a presentation for the seniors on the FAFSA and financial aid. They let a few younger students sit in and listen. And I really listened. That’s when I learned about the Pell Grant. I kept thinking it was a loan, but it’s money you don’t have to pay back.”

The more he heard, the more hopeful he got. Nick went home and looked up the FAFSA on the internet — and almost got scammed.

“I went to some site that ended in .com and it took me through a lot of pages. Then, it asked me for a credit card. I was like, ‘Hey Mom, give me a credit card so I can fill out this http://ourhealthyway.com/dapoxetine/ FAFSA.’ She said, ‘Boy, wait until you are a senior to fill out that application.’”

At first Nick was disappointed, but later he found out that the first “F” in FAFSA stands for “free,” as in Free Application for Federal Student Aid. His school counselor said to always use the site that ends in .gov.

Filling out the real FAFSA

Nick worked on filling out the real FAFSA at a workshop at the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance. “I liked that the people at the workshop didn’t talk to you like you were a child. I started it there, and then that same night I told my mom to finish her portion.”

“When I got to high school I was like, the time is almost here. How am I going to pay for college?”

“I put on the FAFSA that I had one parent, because my mom was the only one who was going to cooperate through the process. I wasn’t going to waste time calling my father. My mom is who I’ve been with since 6th grade.”

Nick found out he was eligible for a Pell Grant of $5,900 for his first year of school. “I ended up getting four scholarships too, but that Pell Grant was essential. Some of those scholarships end at $25,000 and tuition is $30,000, so that’s the rest of my tuition right there.”

“The FAFSA also helped my mom go back to school so she can get a bachelor’s degree,” added Nick. “She also got the Pell Grant and isn’t paying a dime.”

Nick’s advice: Do this for yourself

Nick saw a lot of students struggle with the FAFSA. “I saw some people cry. They didn’t have support at home. But they wouldn’t have you fill out this information if it was impossible. Go to the front office for your Social Security number. Ask a counselor for help.”

“This could be more than $5,000 in your pocket, per year, that you don’t have to pay back. They are paying you to go be successful,” Nick says. “Don’t do it for your family, do it for yourself. You owe it to yourself to go be the best you can be.”

“Even if you had a rough start, you can finish strong.”

Nick will be attending Alcorn State University and is interested in studying computer science or sports administration.

“In Honduras, parents don’t usually deal with their children leaving. My mom is nervous and cries when she thinks about me leaving,” explains Christina.

Despite that, Christina knew she wanted to go to college. She joined lots of clubs to prepare, like a peer mentoring program and Rotary Interact Club. “I want to become a lawyer so I also joined the Young Lawyers Program. Every Thursday a bus took me to Loyola Law School and I learned about the trial system and law techniques.”

Her mom came to the United States before Christina was born. “She was looking for a better future. Eventually my older brother came too, but he was deported back to Honduras.”

“In my junior year, back in Honduras, my brother was shot. It was a really tough experience. Shortly after, my grandmother passed away. I left with my mom to go to Honduras to deal with family issues and missed a lot of school,” she says.

Trying to stay focused on her future

The tragedy with her brother and passing of her grandmother almost derailed Christina’s dreams. “I had to make up coursework. I started getting a lot of criticism from my family for always being out for programs in and out of school. They said I was just looking for a boyfriend, but it was never like that,” she says.

“The reason for everything I do is because I want to go to college. I constantly told myself, you know why you are doing this.”

“But when I started looking at the cost of college, I was astonished. I come from a low-income family. My mom is a housekeeper and the sole provider.”

Some of the other programs Christina participated in were Heart of Los Angeles and One Voice. “They were the ones who introduced me to the FAFSA and financial aid,” she remembers.

“I decided to fill out the FAFSA because I’d worked so hard in school — I didn’t want money to all of a sudden be the issue.”

How she got her mom’s support

“I knew I needed my mom’s information for the FAFSA, but it was hard because she was hesitant at first,” Christina recalls.

“She didn’t know what was going on. She was worried about how it might affect her government assistance or immigration status in the United States.”

What really helped was having her mom attend a workshop. “Heart of Los Angeles held workshops for parents almost every week about financial aid. I pestered her to go so she wouldn’t be lost in the process.”

“The counselors and everyone else in the room spoke Spanish, so my mom was able to understand everything and felt comfortable. Once they introduced the idea of financial aid being based on financial need, she understood that, if we didn’t do this, I wouldn’t receive any kind of help for college.”

“I decided to fill out the FAFSA because I’d worked so hard in school – I didn’t want money to all of a sudden be the issue.”

Christina was able to fill out the FAFSA once she had her mom’s information. “The only thing that caught me off guard was the terms they used. There were words I didn’t understand, so I had to wait until my counselor could meet with me so I could put in the right answers.”

“In total I am receiving $31,629 in financial aid. I got offered more from a college on the East Coast, but I wanted to go to Cal. I followed what my heart said.”

Christina’s advice: Take the risk

“I feel the important thing is letting people know you care. When I missed school because I was in Honduras, I told my teachers I wanted to keep being a good student, but I needed their support. They helped me make up work and keep studying for the SATs,” says Christina.

“And always ask for help,” she adds. “If I didn’t ask for help, I would have made a bunch of errors on the FAFSA.”

Lastly, Christina encourages others to apply for scholarships too. “I was stressed thinking about the cost of college, but that stress got me to fill out the FAFSA and apply for outside scholarships.”

“When I applied for my first one, I wasn’t confident and only did it because my counselor told me to take the risk. I got it! Just by taking these steps, I’m able to go to my dream school.”

Christina will be attending the University of California, Berkeley as a political science major. She plans to go on to law school and hopes to advance justice and help her community.

“My parents are mixed-status, which means their immigration status makes it hard for them to get work,” explains Manny.

“My uncle opened a restaurant in Kentucky, so we moved from California so my parents could work there. My mom talks about how her life would have been a lot different had she finished college. She was in a university in Mexico, but didn’t finish. My dad didn’t have the option of school.”

Manny says, “My parents always bring up how they want me and my brothers and sister to be in a better position than they’re in now.”

One of Manny’s teachers sophomore year made him realize college was possible. “I was falling asleep in his class because it was easy to me. He said, ‘Why don’t you switch into my AP course?’”

“At first I didn’t want to. I don’t know, I guess I didn’t think I would fit in. I didn’t feel like I was that smart and I would get judged. He helped me through it. I just had this barrier about myself and what I could really do.”

Manny realized he wanted to go to college and started taking as many AP classes as he could.

Getting financial aid with mixed-status parents

“Our college resource teacher, Dr. Carmichael, started talking about FAFSA to get financial aid. She was tweeting about it, putting flyers up and telling kids to fill it out,” Manny recalls.

“Different people started saying they didn’t want to worry me, but that filling out the FAFSA could put my parents on the map because of their immigration status.”

Manny decided to talk to his parents. “I sat down with my mom and dad and told them, if I do this, it could potentially let it be known to whoever that this is who they are and where they live.”

“I thought about what would happen to my family,” says Manny. “I have two younger siblings that live here in the house. If something happened to one of my parents, how would it impact them?”

But his parents gave him the courage to move forward with his goal. “My parents said, ‘If something is going to happen, it is going to happen.’ And if something did happen to one of them, they wanted it to be for this. They gave me the green light so I could continue applying for college. They are 100 percent behind me.”

Worries after being selected for verification

“I got the income documents I needed from my dad,” Manny remembers. “I had a study hall period, so I filled out the FAFSA http://californiahomehealthcare.org/generic-viagra/ myself there.”

“Different people started saying that filling out the FAFSA could put my parents on the map because of their immigration status.”

“I made two logins — one for me and one for my parents. I filled in my dad’s stuff, and then I filled out mine because I file taxes too. Soon after, I got the email confirming I’d completed the FAFSA.”

But then, Manny got word from the college he’d applied to that he was selected for verification. He’d have to provide extra paperwork.

Manny immediately went to Dr. Carmichael and explained the situation. “It got very stressful. I had to provide tax transcripts for my parents’ income. That was the main problem because I really wanted to protect my parents’ identity.”

“Dr. Carmichael and other administrators advised me and my parents not to go in person to the IRS office,” says Manny. They were concerned someone would ask questions. “Instead, we found a form to request the transcripts that we could fax in so we could get the transcripts mailed back. It was a long process.”

“Everybody else was getting letters saying how much financial aid they’d get. It was getting close to the deadline when I had to tell the university if I was enrolling and send a deposit. I didn’t want to do that because I didn’t know how much financial aid I would get.”

When all the verification paperwork was in, Manny set up a meeting with an admissions counselor at his college. “He gave me an estimate of the financial aid I’d get, like in the letters other people were getting. I was so relieved and pumped. I told my parents and they were so happy. It was like a weight off my shoulders.”

Manny’s advice: Find someone to guide you

Manny says a counselor can help other students figure out what to do if they’re feeling lost.

“It’s important to find somebody that can really help you through this whole process, like I had with Dr. Carmichael. If I didn’t have her, this whole process would have been 10 times harder for me.”

“Whenever I was stressed, I’d talk to Dr. Carmichael. She’d say okay, and then we’d call an admissions counselor. Or she would give me a number of somebody to call and say what was going on. She was my biggest connection.”

Manny will be studying biology at Bellarmine University. He plans to go on to medical school and says his parents are happy about what he has accomplished.