Gray- your story is wonderful and I am rooting for the young woman you know.
On the other hand- you do realize that there are 50 students like this young woman, with all the energy/ambition and hard work you describe- who ends up getting sidelined. Mom’s cough is TB and not a lingering winter cold. Grandma, who has been living with the family and contributing $200/month towards the rent breaks a hip.
It doesn’t take much to sideline these kids. There may be TONS of emotional support at home (or not) but if the family has been skating on the edge, even a full ride with a stipend for a laptop and winter coat ain’t going to cut it if the family’s circumstances change.
I was on a scholarship committee which had as its mission “last dollar grants”, i.e. once the school’s fin aid, Pell, any state grants, work study, self help. and family support was counted, we tried to bridge the gap. Maybe it was an Amtrak ticket in August; maybe it was $750 in lab fees that showed up on the bill once the registrar logged in the course selections, maybe it was $1200 for MCAT prep materials. But last dollar.
Your heart would break over some of these kids’ circumstances. A kid is going to turn down Yale because getting to New Haven from rural Kentucky is one of those “who is coming up with bus fare” situations? And of course- the family lacks the “social capital” to understand that one phone call to the Master of the kid’s college at Yale is enough to get the wallet opened from Yale. So if plan B was the local community college to become a Pharm Tech instead of Yale to become a surgeon… well, kid would likely be the first in the family to complete HS, let alone community college, so it’s still a win.
The organization’s philosophy was “you can’t save everyone” so they tried to salvage the kids who had ALREADY won a lottery ticket of sorts (although many, many of these kids ended up living at home and commuting to the local state U, which is still a wonderful outcome). But it is easy from the perch of “I’ll put in on the credit card and worry about it next month” to dismiss just how tough it is when you’re 18 and your job as night assistant manager at the local pizza joint has been the difference between mom paying the electric bill that month or not. And that the damaged pizzas your boss let’s you take home have been your younger siblings breakfast meal for the last two years.
I think some posters here lack perspective.