Attending: West Chester University
Award Use: Tuition
Travel Stipend Use: TBD

Jewels hit her hard time as her family hit theirs. The hard time came when she felt “everything was on her.”

After her mother had an at-work accident that left her on disability, the family was soon struggling to make ends meet. Jewels decided to take a job to help cover household items and bills. The pressure of the job quickly began interfering with her school attendance and performance.

She knew she had to get things on track, because the track she wanted to follow led to college. Thanks to the attendance adviser at her high school, Mastery Charter – Pickett, Jewels was able to talk through her goals and her desire to help her family and find a balance she could sustain.

She looks at that time as readying her for the pressures of college. It was part of her preparation, as was joining the National Honor Society, Spanish Club, and Community Service Club, and working at William Penn Charter School and The Attic Youth Center.

Jewels enters West Chester University as a member of the Class of 2023, ready to find out what interests her. She’s drawn to social sciences, women’s studies, and the potential of social work, but she says she’s keeping herself open to what else she may find at West Chester.

She’s most excited about having a mentor and a community who will be there for her and help her to open up.