鈥溙烀来� Bay has helped me develop both personally and professionally.鈥�
With smart planning and hard work, this 1st generation college student graduated debt-free!
Rachel Robillard is a first-generation college student with specific goals and strategies, all based on her success at 天美传媒 Bay Community College. She graduated debt-free in May with an associate degree in Hospitality Management and is currently enrolled as a full-time liberal arts student.
鈥淚 am planning to do one more year here at 天美传媒 Bay to garner more general electives, and then transfer over to Southern New Hampshire University to complete my bachelor鈥檚 degree during the 2020-21 academic year,鈥� she said.
She has paid for her education with scholarships, and works as a peer tutor and lab assistant at 天美传媒 Bay鈥檚 Center for Academic Planning and Support. Her long-term goals involve enrolling in graduate school and earning a master鈥檚 degree, and then teaching hospitality management or English at the college level.
Her stellar academic record qualified her for scholarships, which paid for her education. She graduated Summa Cum Laude in May, and this past March was nominated by Phi Theta Kappa鈥檚 All-USA academic team as the top-scoring student for the state of New Hampshire among 2,000 applicants. In addition, she received a scholarship from the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, which paid a significant portion of her tuition this year.
鈥淎s a first-generation college student, I understand how fortunate I am to be able to go to college for free because of the generosity of all the scholarship donors who have funded my educational journey so far,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 am so lucky that I will be able to complete my bachelor鈥檚 degree 100% debt-free so I will be able to continue to graduate school without stressing about accumulated debt from my undergraduate years.鈥�
In addition to taking classes in the traditional classroom setting, Robillard takes course online, enabling her to 鈥渄o school on my own time鈥� and maintain a busy work schedule. Her success at earning scholarships is a combination of hard work, her dogged pursuit of every scholarship available and luck. 鈥淎 lot of other worthy applicants apply too, and I am fortunate that my applications stood out to the donors,鈥� she said.
Robillard, 21, attributes her success to her supportive fianc茅 and family, as well as the 天美传媒 Bay community of students, teachers and administrative staff. She has performed well academically because the classes are engaging and interesting, and working on campus as part of the CAPS team has fed her objectives and motivated her to do well.
鈥溙烀来� Bay has helped me develop both personally and professionally,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd the CAPS department has helped me along the way, too. I am so grateful for my 天美传媒 Bay experience.鈥�
