Applying for a VSAC-assisted scholarship? Read this important update to ensure your application is received on time.
Blog Archive: Vermont Spotlights
Earning your driver’s license is an American rite of passage. For American-born teens, it's a milestone, but for new arrivals driving is critical to adjusting to their new life. Aden Haji is helping new arrivals in Vermont adjust to their new home by empowering them behind the wheel of a car.…
Read More >
As a competitive runner, Amiya Sharp knows how to push herself to the finish line. Now a freshman pre-med student at UMass Boston, she’s majoring in biochemistry—a tough major, but one Amiya intentionally chose to make sure shes's prepared for medical school. Amiya hopes to become a pediatric…
Read More >
On February 12, 2018, when Mersadies Shantie was 12 years old, her mom suddenly and unexpectedly passed away. That night, still stunned from the loss, Mersadies left her home in Mooers Forks, New York, and moved to Sheldon, Vermont, to live with her dad, stepmom and three adopted sisters. “It was…
Read More >
I’ve always loved to learn, but I never thought I would go to college. As a teen, I was more interested in getting out into the working world, and once I’d established a successful career, I thought, why would I need to go to college now? But as I got deeper into my chosen field of birth and…
Read More >
Ian Taylor of Shaftsbury decided it was time for a career change in his mid-30s. But when he learned the cost of earning his Commercial Drivers License (CDL), he hesitated. Suddenly, the investment seemed more like a gamble. Then, he found out that VSAC could support his CDL career training. Working…
Read More >
VSAC Counselor Tia Stillman and Orwell student Olivia Scher bonded over their goals and drive to help people – as well as being people of color in a small Vermont town. As a kid, Olivia Scher was one of very few people of color in tiny Orwell, Vermont. One other person was her elementary school…
Read More >
Vermonter Kristen Merchant Moore is inspired to help youth after the death of her father, a Veteran. Kristen Merchant Moore’s father always emphasized the importance of education. When he became one of the first Vermont National Guard members to die in the Iraq War in 2006, his service to his…
Read More >
Over the last two decades, John Dell’Anno of Shaftsbury had built a career as a carpenter. Employed by a company out of Manchester, John worked on high-end residential job sites, and found plenty of work in towns like Stratton, Windham, and Dorset. But in 2014, after suffering a few accidents (one…
Read More >
When Mimi Duong was applying to college during her senior year at St. Johnsbury Academy, she found herself at a bit of a disadvantage, since her parents, who had emigrated to Vermont from Vietnam, weren’t totally familiar with the American college admissions system. When we last spoke with her in…
Read More >
When David Richardson was seven years old, his world turned upside down. His relatively comfortable middle-class household, supported by two parents who both held good jobs – his mom as a substance use counselor, his dad as a corrections officer – changed, literally, with one wrong step. His father…
Read More >