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2009-2010 School Year Success Stories

High School: New Bedford High School
Adviser: Rema Beiruti

At the beginning of the year I met an amazing student. She came to me geared up to apply to college and I was shocked when she procrastinated with turning in her completed applications. I sought her out, knowing she was dedicated and passionate about higher education. When I asked her about it, she told me that her parents wouldn't contribute the money for her application fees and she wasn't eligible for fee waivers. Sad, she told me she could spend the money she makes working at a local donut shop, but that would leave her with nothing left over; she needed the money. I secretly wished she had told me this, because we could have worked together to find a way for her to submit her applications sooner.

When it came time for her to fill out the FAFSA she came to me, looking down at the floor while she spoke, and told me she didn't think she could attend college. When I asked her why, she opened up and told me about her complex living situation. She had been in-and-out of foster care from the age of seven, when she was placed with a foster family that decided to adopt her. She told me they abused her, both physically and emotionally, and recently kicked her out because "they didn't want [her] anymore". I soon discovered that they received a subsidy for her and would furnish a "fake" bedroom to put on a show for DCYF when they came to ensure she was living with them. Luckily, she met a wonderful woman who lived near by and took her in, caring for her as if she were her own.
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High School: Springfield High School of Science and Technology
Adviser: Matt Thomas

I'd been working at the Springfield High School of Science and Technology for a few weeks when I first Nzigamasabo Jonathan, or Ziggy to his friends. I met one of the ESL teachers, and we built a quick rapport because we both love baseball. One day he called me and said he was sending down a few students to see if I could get them thinking about college; the last student I met that day was Ziggy.

Ziggy is an extremely polite and quiet young man, and from the moment I met him, I knew he was special. After a few minutes of small talk, I asked him about his life and how he found his way to the United States. Ziggy's family is from Burundi, a small country to the south of Rwanda, which was afflicted with civil war and genocide. His family left Burundi for a refugee camp in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Ziggy was born. However, when the Congolese civil war broke out in the mid 1990's, his family had to leave once more, this time to Tanzania, where they lived for several years.
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High School: Dorchester Academy
Adviser: Estelle Davis

Even though Boston is home to more than 60 colleges, for too many students growing up in Boston, college still is not a reality. Sasha, however, was determined to make college a reality for her and her family; no one from her family had been to college. Sasha came to me in the beginning of the year, enthusiastic and eager to apply to colleges. "I want to study information systems, I want to paint, and I want to dance." I thought to myself, this is definitely a student that will get so much out of going to a large college; she is charismatic, and she will take advantage of all the opportunities that come her way. However, Sasha's grades were not great throughout high school. Sasha was raised by a single mother, and when her mom lost her job, Sasha, her mother, and her two brothers became homeless. They relied on friends and relatives for some support as they tried to get back on their feet. Without a stable home to return to after school or a quiet place to study every night, Sasha's grades suffered. Thankfully, in Sasha's junior year, her family found stable housing, and her grades drastically improved. Still, her overall GPA was less than a 2.5. I encouraged Sasha to work her hardest, and plan to submit her college applications after the first marking term.

After the first marking term, Sasha gained a 4.1 grade point average. This was a student who had potential, but her hardships from previous years were preventing her from having the options she wanted in schools. We had a conversation about the possibilities of community college, but Sasha was determined to get straight into a four year school. We looked for specific programs in colleges designed for students with academic potential. I knew from previous advisors about the Torch program at Northeastern University, a program that over 500 students from around the country apply to each year, but only 11 students are accepted annually. Sasha knew that the competition was tight, but she committed to working with me to make sure that her application was as strong as possible.
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High School: Boston Community Leadership Academy
Adviser: Jenna Cassoli

I can't count how many times Layah said to me, "this is too hard. I'm not going to college." I never accepted that, but I did feel bad that she didn't have confidence in herself. Layah was terrified that she wouldn't get into college and would have few options for continuing her education. She was interested in studying social work, but like many students in their senior year of high school, she wasn't 100% sure of this. I'm currently studying social work in graduate school and felt well equipped to answer her questions about the classes she may take and the career options she could have. She was excited and felt confident of her academic choice after we talked. I told her that she didn't have to declare a major just yet, but we decided to look for schools that offered a social work program because they aren't common at the undergraduate level. Soon enough we had a list of schools for her to apply to.
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2008-2009 School Year Success Stories

High School: Boston Community Leadership Academy
Adviser: Jenna Cassoli
Student: Arielys

Arielys is a star student at BCLA. She has great academics, is involved with her class council, and provides a consistent friendly presence around the school. After working with her a few times, I brought the TORCH scholarship program at Northeastern to her attention. She wanted to go for it, so we sat down for almost two hours so I could get to know her better and write a good recommendation. Once I had learned more about her life, I easily wrote five pages strongly recommending her to the program. She got an interview based on my letter, and she did really well at it.
Read more of Arielys' incredible journey >>

High School: East Boston High School
Adviser: Lillian O'Donnell
Student: Kevin

Kevin came in with a big grin when he was accepted to the competitive state college of his choice. I got in, he said, clutching the paper in his hand.

Kevin had been one of the harder students to get through to. He would come in diligently for a few months then go off the radar. When I invited him on a field trip to visit what would be his future college, he had just recently told me he was thinking of joining the Air Force.
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High School: Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School
Adviser: Ashlee White
Student: Emily

Emily Mari Rodriguez is a senior at the Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Emily is a first generation, low income, English Language Leaner student. Defining Emily as an ELE student means that English was not her primary language, in fact it is Spanish. This can make for a great deal of difficultly when Emily is trying to master her composition skills, and be at the proficiency level that the state requires.
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2007-2008 School Year Success Stories

High School: East Boston High School
College: Bunker Hill Community College
Adviser: Lillian O'Donnell
Student: Phat

I met Phat at a financial aid workshop that some of our programs at the high school had put together. Slumped in his chair, he seemed disinterested. His sweatshirt hood shadowed his face and an Ipod earbud hung out of one ear. Whether it was high school "cool" theatrics or a genuine indifference, I was unsure, but I knew he must have cared about college to make it to the event. By the close of the night, I had mostly spoken to his mother, a Vietnamese immigrant, while we filled out his FAFSA worksheet. I said goodbye to Phat and told him to come see me in my office during school some time, so we could talk about applying to colleges. The very next day, to my surprise, he came to my office. We talked about private and public schools and all the parts of an application. When we got to the essay piece, it produced an ennui similar to what I had witnessed at our financial aid night. The essay is your chance to be creative, I explained. You can detail a traumatic event in your life, or you can wax on about your love for skateboarding. It can be as light or as serious as you want it to be, as long as it is reflective of who you are and what you want them to know about you. "Really?" he asked.
Continue reading Phat's inspirational story >>

High School: Springfield High School of Science and Technology
College: American International College
Adviser: Nate Cleveland
Students: Michael, Claudia, and Jong Ho

During the course of the year I have had the opportunity to work with a lot of very interesting and talented students, all of who have provided me with ample material to write about their successes. Instead of choosing just one student to talk about, I want to highlight several of the students and how through working with the College Advising Corps their futures were altered.
Learn about Michael, Claudia and Jong Ho's fascinating stories >>

High School: Drury High School
College: Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Adviser: Denise Wiseman
Student: Brett

Brett was the first student who came into my office on his own accord; apparently my cohort of students had been talking about me. It was roughly ten minutes into the lunch period when I first saw him bouncing into the Guidance Office headed straight for my door. "Miss Wiseman" he queried expectantly. "Yessssssssss." I welcomed him to a chair and he began: "You know Ronin? Well, he told me that you've helped him out a lot, so I was wondering if you could help me get into college." I chuckled a bit at his request because students always came to me demanding the same result: Get me into college. Forget the past three years of work they had completed and the standardized tests for which they had studied. Their respective melodrama always led them to believe that I had the magic touch, the magical essay waiting for them, or the ability to sway an admissions decision.
Read about Brett's success >>