Brent G.

Brent made an appointment to meet Sally Daniels of the Maine Educational Opportunity Center because his mom told him to. According to Brent, he has “always assumed [he] would be going to college, [because] it was the next logical step after high school.” Neither of Brent’s parents attended college during Brent’s childhood, although Brent’s mother went back to school when Brent was in high school. After learning of her son’s decision to further her education, Brent’s mother recommended that he meet Sally to make sure he was covering all his bases. Brent finally agreed, even though he thought that “there was no point in going to see [Sally]. I had all but put a stamp on the application to the only school I had intended to apply [to].”

Luckily for both Brent and his mother, Sally Daniels did prove helpful to Brent’s college application process. Sally broadened Brent’s educational horizons, and exposed him to colleges he hadn’t considered previously. She also recommended that he retake the SAT’s and provided a fee waiver for the exam. Brent did retake the SAT’s and was happy with “the much higher” score he received. Additionally, Sally helped Brent with financial aid paperwork which made financing his education much simpler than Brent thought possible. In reflecting on his meeting with Sally, Brent admits that “Had I not met Sally, the process of becoming a college student might have been painful. She presented opportunities that I think most students don’t know exist.”

Brent plans to work for a year after his college graduation, and then is considering law or graduate school. He sums up his college experience this way: “The education I have received at the university level has introduced a way of thinking that I know I wouldn’t have found anywhere else. I am thankful that soon I will have an opportunity to put that thinking to use in the workforce. I know that a college education will provide me with many opportunities in the field of my choice.”