Guest Blog by Arthurine Jones
I am sharing a testimony I received from the grandmother of one of my clients.
I was blessed to have met Ms. Brenda High (Scholarshopmom) last year in the women’s dressing room at the Matteson Community Center in Illinois. A few of us women had completed our workout routine and were preparing to leave the gym when we started up a conversation about college preparation, scholarships, FAFSA (which was a mystery and sounded like a foreign language to me). She was so enthusiastic, passionate, knowledgeable, and skilled about higher education for our children that she had us all mesmerized. Her story about how she and her husband became personally interested in scholarship opportunities is quite interesting. She shared that she and her husband did not have children of their own and due to the unfortunate passing of her sister; they became guardians of her two nephews. Their research on how to get them college scholarships became a personal journey. Because of their efforts, both nephews received full ride scholarships. They learned so much about funding that was available and how to acquire the funding (The who, what, where, when, and how). They have the key, cracked the code and were willing to share this info as well as keep apprised of updates. I just wish I had met Scholarshopmom years ago when my granddaughter was an infant as I listened to her express how and why it is never too early to start vigorous planning for your grandchildren’s collegiate endeavors. I had to get her contact info before she left, and I was not going to lose this jewel and wealth of information. She provided me with her contact info and her Scholarshopmom plugger as well as info on upcoming workshops and speaking events.
You see, my granddaughter was a Junior in High School and we had planned and worked with her since she was pre-kindergarten on college and higher education. She had worked community service unofficially with me since the age of 18 months and officially since the age of nine years old when we began documenting her community service. Our family always emphasized the importance of education with her and she was taught to read before kindergarten. We also developed impeccable study habits and tools with her; for example, we didn’t allow her to watch television during the school week. Therefore, she never developed that habit; she developed other positive habits that included excellent reading and homework skills. She also developed a love and passion for learning and aspired to do the best; her goals were to maintain an A average and the family embraced her goal and it became our goal to support her in every way. We assisted my granddaughter in developing and maintaining her bio and resume at an early age. Getting back to Scholarshopmom, I became a follower of her events. I told other people and family members about her and encouraged them to attend. She is someone every parent, grandparent, community advocate/organization, etc. who is interested in higher education for our children should know. Every event I attend, every opportunity that I have to chat with her has been invaluable; I learned something new each time.
Our family was so impressed with her knowledge, experience, commitment, and willingness to share info on college and careers, that I scheduled a private meeting with her at her office with my granddaughter and our family. At this meeting, it was all about Mee’Shaunda. She was very interested in her and spent so much time learning all about her and reviewing her portfolio (documents, awards, certificates, photos, letters, log hours, etc.) of her scholastic, athletic, leadership, veterans community service, and civic service and accomplishments. Scholarshopmom shared so much about how she and her husband became interested in college and career preparation and we really felt we got to know wonderful people. They are truly “gold nuggets”. We had been preparing my granddaughter since she was an infant for college and beyond. We had put many great things in motion, however, after meeting and talking and sharing with Scholarshopmom, we quickly realized that there was so much more to know about college and the journey and the preparation. We did acquire her services for assistance.
Our family entered into contractual agreement with Scholarshopmom for specific services to include personal college and career advising, scholarship search help and application, proofing and editing of essays, financial aid consultation, etc. She provided 24 hr access and contact info: office cell. email, Facebook, text, and kept us apprised of her travels and availability. She kept us focused and on point throughout Mee’Shaunda’s college search process via telephone calls, texts, emails and face-to-face meetings for strategies to move forward.
I recall the epitome of Mee’Shaunda’s journey with selecting the “right school for her” when Scholarshopmom called us very excited and stated that she was touring a school (talking with students and faculty) in Los Angeles that she highly recommended that Mee’Shaunda add to her list of schools and apply for understanding that we would not be able to visit this college before applying for it. Based on our faith and experience over the months with her, Mee’Shaunda agreed to apply. She was accepted, and we scheduled a visit on Good Friday because that was the only day Mee’Shaunda had available in her busy schedule. The school went out of its way to arrange a private tour and Mee’Shaunda met with students, graduate students, and faculty. Based on the visit, she knew in her heart that this was the school for her.
Had it not been for us meeting Scholarshopmom, signing on with her as a family to travel this journey together, her getting to know the”whole” Mee’Shaunda as a person, preparing herself academically, as well as with her community service, leadership and spiritual development, our family as “A Village Raising A Child”, we would not be here today. She was accepted to Loyola Marymount University(LMU) Los Angeles. As a matter of fact, based on her academic and leadership experience, she was accepted into The Learning Community (TLC) program and began her collegiate experience 3 weeks early and completed 2 college courses in the summer in this accelerated leadership program. She received a very generous award package and over $20,000 in scholarships from organizations. Thanks to Scholarshopmom she is on her way to a debt free education.
