Bottom Line

Earlier this month, students, staff, volunteers, supporters, and corporate and community leaders gathered at The Westin Copley Place Hotel in Boston to celebrate 15 years of helping students get into college, graduate from college, and go far in life. College students Yaritza Peña, Melissa Peña, Julie Rorie, and Joe Rowell spoke of the challenges that they have overcome to succeed in college and their experiences growing up in Boston and participating in Bottom Line. Bentley University President Gloria Larson reminded us of the need for a college-educated workforce and the benefits of providing services to students on campus. The event also honored USA Funds CEO Carl Dalstrom for his ongoing commitment to low-income and first-generation students; Senior Vice President of Access and Outreach Bob Ballard accepted an award on Dalstrom’s behalf. Because of the generous support from the attendees and sponsors, $550,000+ was raised to help low-income and first-generation students complete a college degree. Thank you to everyone who continues to provide students from our community with the guidance they need to reach their full potential.

As part of the event’s programming, we presented this video, which shares some students’ thoughts and experiences about college and Bottom Line.

Every year, Bottom Line hosts the Go Far Forum, the premier career event for our Massachusetts college students. With close to 130 volunteers, over 20 employers, and hundreds of students in attendance at the Westin Copley Place Hotel, this year’s event was a big success.  Attendees took part in mock interviews, a career fair, workshops, and a networking social that helped students build job searching skills and make connections.

Career Conversations, a key piece of the event, helped students who wanted information about different career paths. Volunteers who work in fields such as Health Care, Political Science, and Business responded to students’ questions: Why did you choose your major? What was your career path?  What advice do you have for me as I choose my major?  Through these conversations, students were not only able to make informed career decisions, but also further build their communication skills, an essential part of the transition from a student to a young professional. One volunteer said, “ The participants were articulate, bright, excellent people. Their questions were well thought out and I enjoyed talking to all of them.”

Most importantly, the Go Far Forum provided hundreds of students from Boston and Worcester with the support, advice, and opportunities they need to succeed in the job market after graduation. One student said, “I learned a lot from the Go Far Forum, especially from the mock interviews and the career conversations. I am glad I attended.”

Thank you to all the volunteers who made this event possible.

Victoria Sargent
Career Coordinator

In 2011, Bottom Line…

• Guided 145 high school seniors and 91 college students from Worcester to and through college
• Guided 493 high school seniors and 852 college students from Boston to and through college
• Helped 137 new graduates finish college, which expanded our alumni network to include 608 individuals
• Increased our lifetime graduation rate to 74%, which is nearly twice the typical graduation rate for students from Boston
• Helped 97% of high school seniors who completed our College Access Program enroll in college this fall
• Launched a third office in New York City and began to serve 125 high school seniors in Brooklyn

Thanks to the generosity of our supporters (that’s you!), students from low-income homes and the first generation of their families to attend college received the guidance they need to earn a college degree. With a college degree, these students are much more likely to obtain high-paying jobs, build meaningful careers, provide adequate care for their families, and become engaged members of their communities.

To read more about the incredible feats that you helped students achieve during the past year, download Bottom Line’s 2011 Annual Report or the Year in Review of our Massachusetts or New York programs.

College application submission season is a very exciting time!  For the past several weeks, I have been proofreading  college applications at Bottom Line to make sure that they are ready to be sent. I’d like to share with you some of the mistakes I have caught, so you can avoid them too.

1. There are a few places on the Common App where the applicant has to type in an answer rather than select one in a menu. It is very easy to make mistakes in these places.  Look out for spelling and capitalization errors in sections such as your Parent’s Position/Title and Name of Employer as well as your Current Year Courses.
2. The Activities section is required, whether or not you plan to attach a resume.  It is intended to highlight the activities that are most important to you, including the year, season, duration, and position in which you participated.  Read each of your answers carefully to make sure that they accurately reflect your involvement. Then, craft a resume-like description of the activity.  Again, be sure to proofread your response before hitting submit!
3. I could write an entire blog about the college essay, but one widespread mistake to avoid is using the word like where such as or for example is grammatically correct. (e.g. I enjoy playing sports, such as basketball.)
4. Finally, after you ask two teachers to write recommendations for you, be sure to go into the School Forms section and invite them to your list of Recommenders.

Good luck!
Katrina

DaVante Bonneau was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. He graduated from the Bronx School for Law, Government, and Justice in 2011. He lives with his mom and younger sister, who are both very supportive of his goal to gain a higher education. DaVante is currently in his first year at CUNY’s New York City College of Technology (a.k.a. City Tech), which is located in Downtown Brooklyn near Bottom Line’s office. DaVante is interested in many fields, but is considering majoring in Anthropology.

DaVante has always been excited about going to college, so he was thrilled to be offered admission to City Tech. He says that it’s very motivating to be going through this experience with his friends from high school, who go to college throughout New York City and the state. His friends talk about how no one wants to be the one who doesn’t graduate on time, so DaVante makes sure to stay on top of his classes and reading assignments (something different from high school!). With that in mind, he is grateful for the support he’s gotten from Bottom Line’s New York staff so far. He says, “I would be more nervous and wouldn’t really have anyone to help me through questions I have.” DaVante especially appreciates the advice he received about how to save money by renting, as opposed to buying, textbooks for his classes.

During breaks, DaVante and his friends often come to Bottom Line’s office to study, work on projects, or just hang out and eat lunch. After only a few months, DaVante already considers Bottom Line’s New York office his “second home.”

Last Wednesday, 100 guests joined us at Mechanics Hall in Worcester for our third annual Get In, Graduate, and Go Far Reception. Now in our fourth year of operation in Worcester, Bottom Line has continued to grow and expand: we serve 150 high school students and 165 college students locally. On Wednesday, we were lucky enough to hear the stories of two of those students, Crismel Calderon (a senior at Assumption College) and Fredery Muñoz (a first-year at College of the Holy Cross). Their stories of resilience remind us why we all support Worcester’s youth. Thank you to the Worcester community for helping us guide Crismel, Fredery, and hundreds of other determined students to and through college. Below are videos of Crismel and Fredery’s speeches.

Hola,

As many of you know, I am a Bottom Line student. This means that I come from a low income household, I am the first in my family or from the first generation of my family to attend college, and I earned at least a 2.5 GPA in high school. Like the majority of Bottom Line students, I am considered a minority* student. Why am I mentioning this? Because many minority students tend to hold back from the study abroad experience. There is plenty of research proving this to be true. Trust me: if studying abroad is really what you want to do, then you can make it happen regardless of the obstacles that we face as minority students!

A year ago, my Bottom Line counselor told me that her brother did some research on minority college students going abroad. The research showed that not many of us actually went through with it. As soon as the meeting with my counselor was over, I quickly headed back to my dorm room and started researching. The research I found showed that only a limited number of African-American and Hispanic/Latino students actually studied in a foreign country (here’s results from one study). I was very skeptical of the research that had been compiled throughout the years; when I was applying to study abroad, many other Holy Cross minority students were applying to the program too. A couple of months later, almost all of my fellow classmates were accepted into the various programs. However, as I sit here in my house in Spain, the majority of the minority Holy Cross students who dreamed of going abroad are still at home.

You may wonder, “Well, maybe they just couldn’t afford to go abroad.” Then how was I able to come abroad even though I come from a low-income family? You may then think, “Maybe their major did not allow them.” I am a double major and completing a concentration and I did it! Yes, some majors or tracks make it much more difficult to go abroad (i.e. Premed, Chemistry, Biology, Economics, Political Science), but 3 premed students, 2 chemistry majors, 1 political science major, and 1 economics major are currently studying in Spain with me. Do you see what I mean? Studying abroad is very possible! Of course, difficult family or financial circumstances may arise last minute that can hinder our chances of going abroad. However, although us minority students face our own unique set of challenges, I am living proof that studying abroad is possible.

College of the Holy Cross students currently studying in Spain.

If YOU are interested in going abroad and have no serious reasons not to then YOU totally should! Seek out information and resources at your college’s Study Abroad Office or ALANA Cultural Center. Talk to your academic advisor about how you can meet your major requirements while studying abroad. Look for funding that can help you pay for the study abroad experience (the Gilman Scholarship Program is a popular one). Find someone who can help you pick a suitable program and navigate the study abroad process. We all need to come together and start changing the statistics, one minority student at a time. 🙂

Hasta luego,

Kristie

*By “minority” I mean African-American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, Middle Eastern, Pacific Islander, etc.

Class participation is one of the easiest ways to promote success in college. Being engaged can boost your grades, help you stand out to your professors, and help you learn more! Participation may also make you a more likely candidate for scholarships, research opportunities, jobs, and special recognition for which your professors may nominate you. The following tips will help you or a student you know be an active learner in the college classroom:

1 ) Be prepared for class
Completing your homework and assigned reading is the most important factor for doing well in class. If you attend class prepared, it will be easier to participate, pass tests and quizzes, and learn the material (which is why you are there in the first place!).

2 ) Arrive on time
Punctuality shows that you are serious about the class and you value the time you spend there.

3 ) Sit in the front
You will be easily visible to your professor and you will listen better from the front of the classroom.

4 ) Hold a pen
Having a writing utensil in hand is a signal to your professor that you are ready and willing to take notes.

5 ) Take notes
In a lecture class, you need to write down information – at the very least – every 5 minutes. This will help you stay present and retain information.

6 ) Nod your head
What better way to show your professor that you are listening and engaged than with your body language!

7 ) Make eye contact
Keep your eyes up and watch your professor as he/she lectures. Sooner or later your eyes will meet and he/she will see that you are engaged in class!

8 ) Speak up
Make sure your voice is heard at least once a week in your classes. If you have a question, ask it. If you have an opinion, share it. Your professor will recognize your effort if you make a point to speak up!

Greetings from España!

It has been a very long time since my last blog post and a lot has happened between the final days of school until now. I was able to successfully finish off the school year and enjoy my summer vacation by going to the Dominican Republic and working at Bottom Line with the high school class of 2012. Working with all of the students was very rewarding and it was difficult knowing that I would not be working with them for the rest of the year, but I had to leave the comfort of my family and Bottom Line in order to make the very bold decision to study abroad!

Ever since I was in high school I knew I was interested in going abroad, but never thought I was adventurous enough to actually do it. With the help of some of the Bottom Line counselors, I decided to apply to the program at my school. I am glad to say that I stuck with it and I am now currently in Pamplona, Spain, doing a 3-week orientation program. I will be spending the next year (yes, year!) in Spain with the study abroad program at my school. After the orientation is over, I will be headed with 8 other Holy Cross students to the amazing island of Mallorca, where I will be living with a host family and taking classes towards my majors at the local university. Although it is very terrifying and still feels like a dream, I am looking forward to the year ahead of me. I’ve spoken to many students who have gone through the study abroad experience and they all have nothing but great things to say, so I know I too will enjoy everything that a new country has to offer.

I know a lot of students will probably question whether or not they would also like to go abroad. My best advice is to just talk to people. Talk to your Bottom Line counselor or advisor (I would not be here if it was not for my old counselor, Marilyn), talk to students who have gone abroad, and make sure to talk to the Study Abroad Department at your school! Studying abroad is not for everyone, but if you think it is for you, I would just take the chance and apply. You can always decide not to go even after you have been accepted into the program! A lot of schools also offer Summer Abroad or Semester Abroad programs, which are perfect for students who want to go abroad, but do not want to go for very long or cannot go for a year because their major does not allow them.

Let me know what you think about studying abroad!

Kristie

On Thursday August 11th, two-thirds of Bottom Line’s incoming class of 325 college freshmen gathered to celebrate the start of their college careers. Thanks to the generosity of Hill Holliday, these students participated in team-building activities in a stunning space that overlooks the city of Boston. Each student received a t-shirt, generously donated by Follett Higher Education Group and Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, from the college that they will attend. Throughout the evening, students met other Bottom Line participants who will attend the same school and got to better know the Bottom Line counselors who will support them on campus. Whether they were participating in a scavenger hunt or performing a school cheer, these students demonstrated the excitement and nervousness that come with taking the first steps on campus.

With so many students gathered only weeks before the fall semester, our staff was reminded how important our transition programming is. The summer is a time when many students give up on college. There’s housing, tuition bills, orientation, payment plans, insurance forms, loans, and much more for students to schedule, pay, and plan before they can become full-time college students. Each of these 325 students had a counselor to help them with the paperwork and plans that they needed to complete over the summer and each will begin classes in the next two weeks. We look forward to seeing them through the rest of their journey to a college degree.

Greg Johnson
CEO