“Thanks to this program I was able to be the first person in my family to go to college, something that I thought was going to be impossible. During my senior year in High School, I was mentored by Coach Rachel (Rachel Abelgas). She gave me the courage to do what I needed to do to be able to go to college. She was patient and made me feel very comfortable. The personal as well as the program has impacted my life in a very positive way. I learned that there really are people who exist that will help you all the way until the end to make you successful, and I want to be one of those people too. It can be hard for people of color and minority groups in general to believe that they can keep with their education. It can be because of money or because teenagers don’t know where or who to look for to help them. I want to be able to help them the same as this program has helped me. I want to give them hope and courage. Overall, based on my experience, this program helps first-generation, minorities, women of color to pursue their goals and dreams in life. Now that I am in college, I want to give back to my community by becoming a College Success Coach. I want to help all students, but especially other DREAMers, like me, be successful too.”

“I would like to reiterate what Ms. Handysides has said, Ms. Nayali is doing great things in the way of FAFSA completion at our site. Thank you so much for the support. She is a huge asset to our site.”

“Mariam was so knowledgeable about this stuff. I work at a school and I am going to recommend you guys to everyone I know.”

“We love having Ms. Salazar at our site and she has been working non-stop to get as many students as possible to fill out their FAFSA.”

“I made an appointment with a student who had a good GPA and had not applied to any university or college. When I asked the student the reason for the lack of interest, he mentioned that his parents did not want him to apply to any college. As I got deeper into the conversation the student told me he was the first in his family to graduate High School. Both of his parents are illegal and work in the field. His parents wanted him to have a priority of attending church and working after high school. I explained what college was like regarding choosing classes not needing to attend 5 days out of the week for 8 hours each day. I explained about lectures, lab, and homework. The student applied to four Cal-State universities. His mother called me the next day wanting to know if what her son had told her was true. I explained to her in Spanish how the higher education system works in the United States. At the end of two days, I had a student who had hope and a parent who was educated on how she could help support her son.”

“I believe the mentorships help those students that do not know what they want to do after high school. It really impacts them the most because as Cal-SOAP coaches, we are opening a pathway that they may have not thought of taking. Really influencing these students to apply for college, even as a backup plan, opens their options about what they choose to pursue after graduating. I have come across some students who know nothing about the college process because they are the first in their families to go to college. Being able to help guide them and share resources is enlightening to them. It makes me feel satisfied that I am able to help them and provide them with a new pathway after high school.”

“While working as a CAL-SOAP Coach I have helped multiple students from different schools however one story that really struck me was with a young female student who I helped. She only spoke Spanish and she and her mom had no idea what college was or what the FAFSA application was. I was able to mentor them on these subjects and help them work through the application. She never thought she had what it could take to be in college but after encouraging her and telling her she could do the transfer route she now reaches out to me to let me know how much she enjoys college and is excited to become a forensic scientist. Every day I meet with new students I feel impacted by their stories and seeing them work hard. They encourage me to keep going in my own educational career. “

“I had helped a student who faced many difficult life circumstances growing up from periods of homelessness to academic challenges. They had assumed that they could not go to college because of a few lows in their academic career and did not intend on applying. However, we introduced them to several different options such as applying to community college with the possibility of transferring to a 4-year university. They were surprised and happy that this was an option, and they applied. The student was so excited and began imagining all of the possibilities their future held, which they had previously thought was impossible. Helping this student reminded me of how important the work we do is.”

“Cynthia is AMAZING!!! 😁”