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>> IT'S AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL.
IT'S A VERY IMPORTANT EDUCATIONAL TOOL
THAT CAN HELP YOU ACCOMPLISH YOUR SCHOOL GOALS.
THEY PROVIDE RESOURCES THAT A LOT OF STUDENTS
DON'T HAVE WHEN YOU'RE IN COLLEGE.
IF YOU NEED TUTORING, THEY HAVE IT.
IF YOU NEED-- IF YOU WANT TO STUDY ABROAD, THEY WILL HELP YOU.
OTHER STUDENTS SEE BARRIERS AND, A LOT OF TIMES, THEY WILL JUST STOP,
BUT TRiO MAKES IT POSSIBLE THAT, NO MATTER WHAT IT IS, THEY FIND A WAY.
AND I'VE ALWAYS-- THAT'S ONE THING THAT I'VE ALWAYS LOVED ABOUT THEM.
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I'VE BEEN INVOLVED IN TRiO SINCE I WAS IN 9th GRADE.
I COME FROM A LOW-INCOME FAMILY.
MY PARENTS WERE ACTUALLY MIGRANTS BEFORE WE CAME TO MICHIGAN,
SO WHEN I WAS PUT IN THE PROGRAM, AT FIRST I WAS-- I DIDN'T LIKE IT.
BECAUSE IT WAS VERY DISCIPLINED,
BUT IN THE SENSE, ALSO, IT WAS VERY EDUCATIONAL.
IT HELPED ME WITH SCHOOL, IT HELPED ME WITH RESOURCES.
I STRUGGLED IN SOME CLASSES, AND ALL I HAD TO DO WAS LET MY ADVISOR KNOW,
AND SHE WAS ON IT.
SHE WAS LIKE, "OKAY, WE'RE GONNA GET YOU A TUTOR."
THEY WERE ALSO ABLE TO LOAN ME A LAPTOP, SO THAT I COULD, YOU KNOW,
TAKE THAT TO CLASS WITH ME, DO HOMEWORK IN BETWEEN CLASSES, THAT TYPE OF THING.
YOU KNOW, THEY CONSTANTLY KEEP YOU INFORMED.
IF THEY'RE DOING ANY PROJECTS OUT IN THE COMMUNITY, THEY ALWAYS LET ME KNOW.
SO, THEY HAVE A REALLY GOOD LINE OF COMMUNICATION
WITH THEIR STUDENTS AT ALL TIMES, AND I REALLY LIKE THAT,
BECAUSE IT SHOWS ME THAT IF I'M BEING LAZY OR IF I'M SLACKING,
THAT THEY'RE GONNA BE RIGHT THERE, AND THEY'RE GONNA KEEP ME MOTIVATED TO,
YOU KNOW, TO DO WHAT I NEED TO DO TO GET MY GOALS ACCOMPLISHED.
IT'S A DOOR TO A WORLD THAT YOU WON'T TOUCH OTHERWISE.
FOR ME, IT HAS BEEN THAT.
LIKE I SAID, BECAUSE OF THE TRIPS THAT I TOOK WITH TRiO--
THE EDUCATIONAL TRIPS, YOU KNOW?
I WAS ABLE TO SEE A WORLD THAT, FROM WHAT I HAVE BEEN RAISED IN
AND WHAT I WAS-- WHERE I WAS GOING, I WOULDN'T HAVE EVER BEEN ABLE TO--
SEE, IT SHOWS YOU THAT THERE IS OPPORTUNITY.
IT SHOWS YOU THAT NO MATTER WHAT YOUR OBSTACLES ARE,
NO MATTER WHAT BARRIERS YOU HAVE IN LIFE,
THAT YOU CAN OVERCOME THEM AND YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH YOUR GOALS.
AND IT TEACHES YOU THAT, NO MATTER WHAT BACKGROUND YOU COME FROM,
THAT YOU CAN BE SOMEWHERE.
AND I WOULD SAY I'M A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF THAT.
REALLY, IF IT WASN'T FOR THE PROGRAM,
I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GRADUATE ON TIME.
AND THEN, WHEN I FINALLY WAS ABLE TO GO TO COLLEGE,
IT HAS BEEN A HUGE RESOURCE FOR ME.
SO, I WILL BE GETTING MY BACHELOR'S, GOD WILLING, THIS DECEMBER.
AND IT HAS BEEN A HUGE STRUGGLE FOR ME
BUT, BECAUSE OF THE RESOURCES THAT TRiO HAS OFFERED ME,
IT HAS JUST BEEN WONDERFUL.
I HAVE THREE CHILDREN AND THAT, ALSO, HAS BEEN SOMETHING
THAT HAS NOT BEEN A BARRIER, THAT HAS STOPPED ME FROM ACCOMPLISHING MY GOALS,
BECAUSE OF TRiO.
THEY MADE IT ALL WORK, ONE WAY OR THE OTHER, AND MY KIDS--
I THINK IT'S AMAZING THAT I HAVE THIS HISTORY WITH THIS PROGRAM,
BECAUSE I SHOW MY KIDS PICTURES OF ALL THE TRIPS THAT I WENT ON
AND, YOU KNOW, I TELL THEM STORIES ABOUT THE THINGS THAT I WENT THROUGH,
AND THEY THINK IT'S REALLY COOL.
AND I MEAN, YOU CAN'T ASK FOR ANYTHING BETTER THAN YOUR KIDS THINK YOU'RE COOL.
(laughing) SO...
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