Meet Zabby Pardo-Moreno, a National Honor Society member and High Honor Roll Student at Manchester Regional High School, NJ. She is involved in several school groups including the student council, youth leadership, peer mediation, volleyball team, and InterAct, among others. Her most rewarding work is with the Make a Difference Program, implementing fun activities to bring together students with special needs and the rest of the student body. She is a Junior and wants to study Psychology at Cornell University. Outside school, you will find her volunteering at the Liberty Science Center.
Zabby’s mom, Ana, is a single mother who provides financial support for her mom and her daughter with an extremely limited budget. Yet, she earns too much to get any kind of assistance. So, there is no free school lunch for Zabby. Ana is a proud and supportive parent but the dream of having a professional degree from a top notch university is out of her reach. “I don’t even know how I’m going to come up with the money to cover college application fees” –she says- realizing that the Ivy League school her daughter wants to attend, costs more than she earns per year.
I shared with them the information I learned during the #LATISM family twitter party with representatives of Univision’s “Es El Momento”. Ana and Zabby were thrilled to learn that there are resources and options. The mother-daughter team have set high goals; their next step is to find ways to finance college. Over the next few weeks, their work will focus on researching all about scholarships.
Preparing a good portfolio is key and starting early is important so you don't miss the dreadful application deadlines. I’ve always said between a dream and a reality there is an action plan. Their next step is an intelligent one. What is your plan?
I will be documenting their progress here in my blog to share their experience with other parents who are facing these same challenges. So stop by to read, comment, and share your tips.
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