MAKING THE LEAP
Making the leap from a rural high school in Maine to Harvard was one of the most challenging experiences that I have ever faced. Going into the college application process, I had no idea what to expect. Neither of my grandparents whom I grew up with had gone to college for a bachelors degree. No one from my high school had gone to the school I dreamed of - Harvard University - in over a decade and a half.
RESEARCH. RESEARCH. RESEARCH
Over the course of four years of research - talking to teachers, continuous conversations with wonderful guidance counselors, and eventually college visits - I slowly became familiar with the college application process. I knew that I wanted to go to college but I had no idea how I would pay, and no idea what it would take to get into the places that I wanted to go.
MY COLLEGE TOOLKIT | WHERE TO APPLY
Slowly, I built up my college toolkit. I learned to apply to a broad swath of colleges: one or two back up schools (places you feel very confident that you can get into), three to four schools you feel you have a good shot at (places that you are aiming to go) and one or two schools that are a stretch for you (schools that you are prepared for but are more difficult to get into).
Preparing | Standardized tests
After researching the colleges I was looking at, I found out the rough range of SAT and ACT scores that I needed to get into, so I asked friends who had already graduated to borrow there prep books, and took the test several times - the first with no pressure on my self so that I would know what to expect, and later, to improve my scores.
Paying for college
I learned about websites like fastweb.com which help students search for local and national scholarships to apply to, and with help from the guidance office went to work looking through there catalogue of grants for college funded by my high school or local sources. Going on college visits set up through the high school, I tried to gauge where I felt most comfortable, and made it a point to talk to talk to students and attend classes at the schools I was most interested in.
Every weekend, I spent hours scouring the web for information, and made it a goal my senior year to apply to at least three scholarships or grants every weekend. I paid close attention to deadlines, reached out to college admissions offices when I was confused, and then as graduation approached, I waited.
Every weekend, I spent hours scouring the web for information, and made it a goal my senior year to apply to at least three scholarships or grants every weekend. I paid close attention to deadlines, reached out to college admissions offices when I was confused, and then as graduation approached, I waited.
reaping the rewards
As I found out, all of that hard work paid off. I was accepted everywhere I wanted to go, and as a result of all those hours of scholarship writing, I received enough funding to completely pay for my college education. I was thrilled.
college REVELATIONS
When I got to college and talked to my peers about there high school and college application experiences, I found a wide range of stories. Some people had a story similar to my own but others had opportunities and access to information and resources that I could not have dreamed of in high school. I learned of college prep courses, personalized college consultants, and access to national resources and free to low cost international opportunities that I never could have dreamed of when I was in high school.
opened doors | international opportunities
Three years later, I have had the blessed privilege to be able to apply my new found knowledge to search out opportunities and funding to explore my academic interests and future career paths. For example, I recently spent a summer studying at the Goethe Institute and apprenticing with an accomplished foreign painter in Berlin, Germany.
return to maine & objective
Now it is my hope that I can give back to Maine's newest generation of young people by providing them the information and resources to make the most (and most cost-effective) time out of their high school and college experiences.