Twenty-year-old Charlie Wallace describes her art as “modern and eclectic. It’s totally random, and I love it. It gives me feeling.” The soft-spoken young woman with the slight Southern accent and the blue streaks in her hair is now herself an eclectic mix of northern Vermont – where she moved, on…
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Blog Archive: Applying for Financial Aid
“If you had asked me five years ago, I would have said, ‘no way would I be going to college,’” says Autumn Morse. In fact, she once doubted that she would even finish high school. And she wasn’t the only one; plenty of others assumed she would follow in the footsteps of her parents, who both fell…
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Almost exactly four years ago, VSAC first reported on Will Eberle, who overcame homelessness and addiction and went from high-school dropout to master’s-degree student, through equal parts personal determination and community support. But Eberle is quick to say that his success is no Horatio Alger…
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Devon Kimball has been hard at work this winter and spring, flipping a house in Rutland with his cousin. He recently took a break from painting and hanging siding to talk about his experience with VSAC, which he says has been instrumental not just for him, but for his entire family. Devon, who…
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Two weeks before the first day of her senior year in high school, when most of her classmates were enjoying their final afternoons at the pool or going back-to-school shopping, Calleen Ferris was moving cows. She had grown up on a dairy farm in Randolph, which both the cows and the family had…
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Thinking about taking out a loan to pay for your studies? You’re not alone: Nearly seven out of 10 Vermont students will take some loans to finance their education expenses. Knowing how to compare loans and costs is essential to making college more affordable. Get some loan smarts with VSAC’s “ My…
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The future looks bright for 22-year-old Samantha Hadvab: She’s ready to graduate from the University of Vermont this spring with a degree in medical radiation sciences, and she already has a job offer waiting for her at the Lafayette Family Cancer Institute in Brewer, Maine, where she’s finishing up…
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First-generation college students — or students whose parents did not go to college — are much less likely to pursue and to complete postsecondary degrees than are their classmates whose parents did go to college. According to data gathered by the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC), first…
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Essex Principal Ashley Gray, right, with her wife, Rebecca and their son, Rio. Ashley Gray has never shied away from a challenge. When VSAC first profiled her in late 2019, she was a young principal at Peacham Elementary School in her native Northeast Kingdom. Though she grew up just 30 miles away…
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Every September, as families settle into their back-to-school routines, VSAC celebrates National GEAR UP Week, which promotes the wealth of resources and opportunities offered through this federally funded college and career guidance program. This year, National GEAR UP week falls on September 20–24…
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