Article from pround mother of Columbia grad
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/27/style/modern-love-evicted-homeless-new-years-eve.html
"...During Kristil’s freshman year of high school, she announced that she wanted to attend a high-level college and began researching what was needed to be accepted into such a school. I figured the University of Wisconsin would be a great option to strive for, but Kristil had higher ambitions. One summer day after her freshman year, we drove to the public library to pick up books Kristil had on order. Awaiting us were three bins containing some 60 books, many of them “how-to” manuals on getting straight A’s, mastering standardized tests and winning admission to Ivy League schools. At home, Kristil lined them up in stacks along her bedroom wall, then mapped out her reading and study plan for the summer. Thus began Kristil’s execution of her high school career. She read, wrote and studied relentlessly, joined every club she could and excelled at all of it. I also held up my end, keeping a roof over our heads and food on the table, and supporting Kristil in her various pursuits. It was midway through her junior year, just as all of her college planning was ramping up, that things started to unravel. First, I lost my job at a local company where I had been doing administrative work. A few months later, my mother died from the cancer she’d been living with for 18 months. And finally, Kristil’s father, who had been out of prison and sending us a bit of money, was incarcerated for the fourth time, for burglary. We got by on unemployment benefits and by selling our possessions, but not for long. Rather than despair, Kristil redoubled her academic efforts, making plans to apply to as many as 30 colleges, taking and retaking the ACT and SAT and investigating scholarships. ... And then, on Nov. 5, we received the eviction notice. Seven weeks later we were shivering in that stairwell, wondering where to turn." |
Anonymous
| What a lovely article. Thanks for sharing OP. And it's a great example of someone with few resources but with a lot of self-motivation who succeeded in college. |
Anonymous
| How amazing! Although we failed this family in providing a basic support network, at least she had the public library to help her. |
Anonymous
| A welcome antidote to the "what's bad about Barnard" thread. Every time another wealthy parent complains that their child was rejected from an elite college because a "Questbridge," first-generation, or URM student "took their spot," I will picture the determination and drive of this young woman. Their child will do fine wherever she goes, but the trajectory of this family has changed forever. Goo job Barnard! |
Anonymous
| What's wrong with Wisconsin???? |
Anonymous
That's your takeaway from the article? Seriously? |
Anonymous
| I’m not sensitive at all, but I dropped a few tears reading this. Good for her! |
Anonymous
+1. |
Anonymous
Are you badgering the PP? |
Anonymous
The real answer is probably that, on a good day, when Barnard feels like it, it can give a low-income student more financial support and academic support for a low-income student than the University of Wisconsin might be able to provide. |
Anonymous
The article doesn't say the low-income student needed academic support. In fact, the student demonstrated unwavering determination, planning, organization, and execution to success, which is a totally foreign concept to many high-income students. |