Delaney, Monroe, OH
I’ll never forget the day when my acceptance letter from Kenyon came in the mail. My mother was in the kitchen washing dishes when I told her the news. She stopped what she was doing immediately and held me until we both started crying. I got into my college of choice, and I could afford it on my own. I could see the look of relief of my mother’s face, because there was a part of her deep down that was afraid that we wouldn’t be able to afford it, and that I would not be able to do what no other woman in my family had done before.
Throughout my life, I assumed I would go to college because I did well in school and was the president of multiple clubs. However, prior to my senior year of high school, I did not realize that money would be a large obstacle. I was raised by a single mother that did all she could to shelter my dream of going to college by keeping me from realizing its impracticality. I took her to expensive, liberal arts colleges and told her I wanted to go to law school after I completed my undergraduate degree, never realizing how hard it would be. She never chastised me or made me feel foolish, she just smiled and gave me hope. I finally realized the difficulty when I started applying for colleges and tried to work through finances. That was about the time I received an email from CollegePoint that said that I qualified for a free counselor.
If CollegePoint was not there to help me, none of this would have been possible. My counselor Jordan coached me through the application process. She is amazing at her job.
I had a crazy schedule because I juggled about seven clubs and a varsity sport, but she always made time for me, which I know couldn’t have been easy. I remember when I told her about my love for writing and the very next day she sent me a list of scholarships that require essays or stories, and a list of writing prompts to get my creativity flowing. She also read through my application essays and helped me look for financial aid by showing me websites that found scholarships and grants for me. My mother didn’t like talking about money, and neither of us had ever filled out a FAFSA or CSS Profile before, so I was lost when it came to financial aid. Jordan helped me through the process, step by step. She sent resources to help me, kept me on top of deadlines, and always answered my questions. Thanks to Jordan, I will be attending Kenyon College in the fall, hopefully majoring in English with a concentration in Law and Society. A deserving student should never miss out on a college education because of their financial situation or lack of knowledge about the process; Thanks to CollegePoint, more students are able to work past the obstacles and accomplish their dreams.