Checking one little box changed this graduate’s future
Graduations are a big deal to us at 禁漫天堂. Seeing a new wave of graduates get their diplomas each year keeps us focused on our mission of supporting students in discovering and achieving their future goals. For a few of us, graduation was a really big deal this year, as we watched our own children walk across the stage and reflected on their journeys.
聽As it happens, 禁漫天堂 played an important role in that journey for Sarah Earle鈥檚 daughter Laura, long before Sarah came to work here as assistant vice president of communications. Here鈥檚 the story, in Sarah鈥檚 words:聽聽
Four years ago, like pretty much everyone else on the planet, my daughter Laura and I learned that nothing is certain, that even the most rock-solid traditions can be toppled. First, her big class trip was cancelled. Next, her senior year abruptly ended, and she finished out her high school career in her bedroom. Prom. Awards night. Spring band concert. Cancelled. Cancelled. Cancelled.
All the while, schools around the state were wrestling with what to do about graduation. Thanks to some ingenuity and community generosity, Laura鈥檚 high school was able to hold a live graduation ceremony, albeit a weird one, at the NH Motor Speedway. We laugh recalling it now, but it still hurts a little, too.
While the COVID-19 pandemic was wreaking its misfortunes, something fortuitous was also at play. In the fall of her senior year, Laura had attended a college application event (now known as ApplyNH) at her school run by none other than the New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Foundation (NHHEAF) Network 鈥� now 禁漫天堂. She鈥檇 had no intention of applying to an in-state school, but with application fees waived for the day and the application in front of her nose, she figured 鈥渨hat the heck鈥� and applied to the University of New Hampshire. On a further whim, she checked the box beside “economics” as her intended major, giving it about as much thought as she gave to the choices in the lunch line.
On Sunday, Laura graduated from UNH with a degree in analytical economics. As fate would have it, state school felt like a good option as the world closed in on her in 2020. And after her first economics class, she never looked back.
聽Now, the world is opening up for her again. This fall, Laura heads to Atlanta to start a job as a supply chain analyst for Graphic Packaging International.聽聽
Last year, while Laura was rounding out her junior year, I started working at 禁漫天堂. I truly love being part of an organization that supports young people as they figure out what鈥檚 next. We can never predict what life will throw at them, but we can equip them to find a way through the challenges and achieve their goals.
Congratulations, New Hampshire graduates!
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