Navigating the financial aid process is where my support system became helpful. I had worked with my ACCESS advisor on determining which colleges were offering me the best aid, and this support system was crucial to my success in college. Whether it be family, an advisor, or a teacher, it is helpful to have someone to refer to about difficult circumstances, and ACCESS was my go-to for financial advice—and now, as an advisor, I work hard to provide that same kind of assistance for a new generation of students.
Elsa Martinez, former ACCESS Boston student and current ACCESS Advisor in Boston and Lawrence, MA
Navigating loan debt is always a huge challenge, and so it’s important for us to show students what their yearly and monthly payments will realistically look like. I draw a lot from the experiences of students who I helped in the past, and who have come back to me after graduating high school and told me what worked and what didn’t. I’m always surprised by how many students still have my business card once they start college and who ask for my help! It’s very helpful for students to hear other students’ stories, and these stories can also save them from repeating others’ mistakes.
Monica Hayden, ACCESS Boston Advisor

Advisors’ Stories: Monica Hayden

Monica Hayden works with a student at the Boston office.As an undergrad at Bates College in Maine, I majored in Psychology and minored in Spanish and Educational Studies, and those two minors really ended up being the things that I enjoyed the most.  I started working with younger middle/elementary students on English-language learning and also worked a fair bit of tutoring with adults, which let me see how different schools worked and interact with some great students. I always knew that I liked working with young people and was drawn to education, and it just felt really natural for me as a place where I could have real impact—or try to, at least!

After graduation, I did a fellowship with Citizen Schools, which let me do a college counseling internship with City on a Hill Charter School. That was when I really fell in love with working with high school seniors on their college choices and helping them make good decisions about what schools were a good fit academically and financially. My favorite part of the day was when I was in close contact with students—one-on-one counseling situations or small groups—and when I was able to support them in a more individualized way. Finding ACCESS after that was just perfect for me: I’ve gotten to learn so much, to get into the field, and to start making a real difference with real students.  I’ve always liked working with programs that are outside of the schools so they have a bit more autonomy but are still able to directly help students along with the public education system.

At large schools where there are many demands on guidance counselors, there aren’t systems in place that can help each student understand the college process, and that’s where ACCESS comes in. The first thing that I like to do with my students is to make sure that they’re being financially realistic and aware about their college choices. It’s important to start students off with a solid list of schools that they’d be excited to go to and that would be financially affordable: if they’re applying to six private schools, or six out-of-state public schools, that doesn’t leave any room for a financially safe school, and there’s a lot of potential for disappointment in the spring. A lot of students come in with a lack of knowledge: they come in with a low GPA and are looking at a top private school, or they don’t realize that the more financially accessible state colleges also have strict GPA and SAT requirements. It’s our job to broaden their view of the different financial issues and introduce them to different options they can pursue.

I usually try to get my students to speak about what they’re interested in for the future: even if they don’t know if college is in their path, they often have some career goal, and these goals will almost always be accomplished more easily with the help of a college education.  For the undecided students, there’s even more reason to say, “Take time at college, and use that as a chance to figure out what you want to do!” I stress that any type of college, whether two-year or four-year, is going to make their lives easier in the long run.

Navigating loan debt is always a huge challenge, and so it’s important for us to show students what their yearly and monthly payments will realistically look like. I draw a lot from the experiences of students who I helped in the past, and who have come back to me after graduating high school and told me what worked and what didn’t.  I’m always surprised by how many students still have my business card once they start college and who ask for my help!  It’s very helpful for students to hear other students’ stories, and these stories can also save them from repeating others’ mistakes.

I love how much potential we have to impact lives here.  I had a former student email me the other day who said that she couldn’t do college because it was just “too much” and too hard to figure out, and so we revisited her financial aid and found certain steps that she could take to make her plan attainable.  If she hadn’t had us as a resource, she might have given up right there! There can be lots of tough roadblocks, but we’re here to support our students and offer them resources to help them make good decisions. Being able to change students’ trajectories and help them accomplish their college goals is something you can clearly see, and watching it play out with time and time again is just incredible.

Advisors’ Stories: Jeanne Foster, ACCESS Springfield

When my kids were ready to start school, we were living in a suburb of Columbus Ohio, and at that time Columbus was going through a desegregation order. As a result, we decided to move into the city from the suburbs, and put our sons in the Columbus public schools. That is where I began to become involved in education, because we decided it would be very important for one of us to be very involved in the school to know what was going on.  Then a group of people in Columbus became concerned about the poor college-going rate of student in the Columbus public schools, and that’s how I became involved in college access work. 

When we moved to Springfield because we wanted to be closer to our sons and and grandchildren, I began working with Springfield’s Safe Schools through ACCESS.  The students at these schools are there for a lot of different reasons.  The schools attract students that have struggled and need a fresh start: many of them have some kind of learning disability or social/emotional disability, and some have had brushes with the law or substance abuse.

Most of my students really want to go to college; they just don’t know how to get there. Sometimes they think that there aren’t any options there for them, particularly since a lot of these kids haven’t done well in high school and their preparation isn’t very strong.  I often stress at the beginning, “Trust me when I tell you there is financial aid there for you,” because a lot of students don’t believe that. The students I work with don’t come from college-educated homes where college is a given, and it is hard for them to imagine going to school when they see a price tag that’s more money than their family makes in a year.  I try to get them to trust the process—I am going to be there with them every step of the way—and to inform them about what this process will involve.

The hardest thing with my students is getting them to follow through.  A lot of them have that college desire, but I worry if they will be able to make it when they get there—and, honestly, a lot of them don’t because their preparation isn’t strong. I have been told by many people that these students are not college material, but for every one of my kids who I think won’t make it and does, it’s worth my effort.  When you are doing this, you don’t know which ones are going to come around and make it, and which ones aren’t, so you just keep plugging away.  They break an appointment, so I make another one. Sometimes it will take four or five appointments to get the work done, but I try really hard not to drop it or give up on any of the kids.  Persistence is crucial.

I worry about the kids, and they know it.  I do try to get them to think ahead so that they don’t end up getting to college and finding they don’t have enough money.  I encourage my students to get by with as little debt as possible by sitting down with them to actually crank out the numbers, so that they can see what their bill costs, indirect costs, and financial aid will all look like.  I also make sure they understand whether or not to waive the health insurance. I try to work with them individually so that each can see how to figure out, “Do I owe anything? Will I get money back? How much will I get back?”

I love seeing my students develop and grow: I really care about them and about what happens to them. I want their futures to be different. Many of these kids have been in foster care homes, some of them are in independent care situations, and may have had very difficult situations all their lives so I want to see that turned around.  With every year, with each new class and each new group, I find I really like these kids, and I really like working with them. When you hear about a former student who is really doing well and whose life has been really been changed because he or she was offered a little bit of help along the way—it’s so supremely gratifying.

Advisors’ Stories: Jeanne Foster on Jonathan Bynum, ACCESS Springfield Student

Jonathan Bynum: Early College High School in Springfield, MA; Class of 2015 at University of Massachusetts at Boston

As told by Jeanne Foster, Jonathan’s ACCESS Advisor in Springfield, MA.

“When I first met Jonathan, he had suffered personal loss a few months earlier and had come to Early College High School to escape. He was a very shy, very private, and he had a horrible first three years academically, but he really wanted to go to college and to turn everything around.  He was one of these kids I just had to prod, prod, and prod, just to get anything done. He applied to a couple of four-year colleges, and he did actually get into several, but when they gave him horrible financial aid packages I convinced him to start off at community college in Springfield and apply again the next year.  We met a lot and worked on his applications and financial aid and he ended up getting admitted to UMass Boston, where he will start in the fall. 

Jonathan has completely evolved during his year at community college: he has a lot more confidence, and he has taken a lot more initiative on his own. He is doing things without my prodding!  It’s been amazing to see how far he has come.  During his time at community college, the two of us went down to UMass Boston and UMass Dartmouth together, because both of those schools were on his list and he hasn’t been out of Springfield much. He called me one day and said, “Mrs. Foster, I am applying to all these schools but I have never seen any of them. What am I going to do?”  He was afraid; he had a car but he didn’t think it would be able to get him there. 

On the trip down to UMass Dartmouth, we stopped at a place where the view to the ocean opens up and he said, “I’ve never seen the ocean before!”  I’m so excited that his world will be opening up in Boston.  He’s learning the subway system now, learning how the bus to Springfield works, and he was excited to tell me when he got a new cell phone with a “617” area code. He said, “I hope that tells you how excited I am about going to UMass Boston, and how excited I am to leave where I grew up!”

I really love the kids. It’s discouraging when any of them don’t make it, but the stories like Jonathan’s are what really keep me going. Initially, I would not have thought he would have come around like he has—but watching him grow has been incredible.”

I met with a student last week and it was amazing to see her expression when she realized, “Oh, you went through this! Okay, maybe it’s not too hard; you are just like me. You come from the same neighborhood, or the same community.” It’s inspiring to see students take my advice and walk away realizing that they can think about college and that it’s going to be all right. It’s the best part of my job.
Jeanny Mejia, College Awareness Intern and former ACCESS Boston student 

Advisors’ Stories: Elsa Martinez, ACCESS graduate

Education was always important in my family. My parents moved from the Dominican Republic with my older sister to the South End of Boston where I was raised. My parents didn’t end up going to college until they were older and raising a family, but they pushed my siblings and I. They told us that we needed to go to college in order to have better lives than what they were able to provide.

When my mother came to the United States she didn’t know how to speak English, and my dad served as the sole provider for the family. Once my parents had split up, my mother went to school to learn English. She worked in factories and a number of other places before earning an education and becoming a preschool teacher. She did this all while raising four kids on her own. Her drive inspired my siblings and me to pursue college educations as well.

In the community I grew up in, struggling households weren’t out of the ordinary. College was talked about, but it was rarely an expectation. Some people were going to have kids and start working right after high school and often continue the cycle of poverty. Through community organizing with a program called Teen Empowerment I was made even more aware of these issues. I began to think about what all of this meant to me and what I could do to live a more productive life.

Although college had always been a goal of mine, it wasn’t until my senior year that I seriously began thinking about what it meant to choose schools based on the financial implications. When my sister was in college, money was always an issue for the family. When I went to college I knew that I didn’t want finances to be a struggle.

Navigating the financial aid process is where my support system became helpful. I had worked with my ACCESS advisor on determining which colleges were offering me the best aid.  Once I received my financial aid package from Regis College, the school I attended, I reviewed it with the number people within my support system and realized that it was the school for me.

Once I enrolled in college, the initial transition was a bit tough. In high school I had a pretty good GPA and I was heavily involved. College was much different, however, and my freshman year was quite a struggle. In addition to classes, I worked a lot in college. I didn’t want to put any more financial strain on my parents. For three years I held a work-study job, as well as two outside jobs. It wasn’t only difficult academically, but also socially. I didn’t have the time that my peers did to be as involved on campus as I would have liked. But the hard work that I saw my parents and older sister go through motivated me and helped me push through.

A support system was crucial to my success in college. Whether it be family, an advisor, or a teacher, it is helpful to have someone to refer to about difficult circumstances. I remember applying to study abroad in Brazil and not receiving enough aid. I then contacted ACCESS because they had helped me in the past and I felt comfortable with them. Because I had that support system I was able to find new sources of financing, making my study abroad opportunity a reality.

I had a former student email me the other day who said that she couldn’t do college because it was just “too much” and too hard to figure out, and so we revisited her financial aid and found certain steps that she could take to make her plan attainable. If she hadn’t had us as a resource, she might have given up right there! Being able to change students’ trajectories and help them accomplish their college goals is something you can clearly see, and watching it play out with time and time again is just incredible.
Monica Hayden, ACCESS Advisor