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Showing posts from April, 2017

Watching First-Gens Navigate Financial Aid

This past week, I spent much of my "free time" at school working with two students to ensure they have everything necessary submitted to the university they plan to attend this fall. I was a first-generation college student. So are these young men. So it came as no surprise when a few weeks went by and they hadn't followed up with me. One hadn't checked his email to notice a respond from the Office of Financial Aid to let him know that he needed to submit additional documentation. Other had been so consumed with life (I remember my own senior year when I was so involved in other activities that I forgot to turn in any of the local scholarship applications) that I didn't focus on anything beyond high school. So I spent a little time tracking these guys down, sending reminder texts like, "Paperwork. ASAP," and then following up in person. It was during this process that I also had the chance to watch a young man interact on the phone with the financial aid