Work-Study position helps direct student to higher-education career
When Patrick Bryan was making plans to attend the University of Arizona in Tucson, he was fortunate that he had older cousins who preceded him. His aunt helped Bryan and his mother file the paperwork to apply for financial aid. Applying for financial aid made a difference. Based on his high-school grades, Bryan qualified for a merit-based tuition waiver for all four years of undergraduate study at the University of Arizona. That assistance plus a state grant, Federal Work-Study funds and Federal Stafford loans helped Bryan to finance his undergraduate education. He graduated in May with bachelor’s degrees in Spanish, Portuguese and graphic design. He was even able to spend a semester studying in Barcelona, Spain. “I felt that if I was going to have a degree in Spanish, I needed to go somewhere that I’d pick up the culture,” says the Phoenix native. “I didn’t feel I would have a valid degree without it.” “You learn a lot about American culture, too, by going abroad,” he says. Bryan hopes one day to be able to work overseas with students studying abroad or work with international students studying in the United States. Now he’s enrolled in the University of Arizona’s higher-education master’s-degree program. As part of his work-study position, he assisted with retention programs in the university’s admissions department, and the coordinator encouraged him to pursue a career in higher education. The coordinator also encouraged him to volunteer at the state’s College Goal Sunday event, held each year in February. Financial-aid professionals from around the state volunteer their time to help students and their families complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Bryan volunteered at the event last year and plans to do so again at this year’s Feb. 11 event. “College Goal Sunday would have helped me when I was just getting started,” he says. “The first FAFSA you complete is the hardest.” For Bryan and his brother, a senior this year at University of Arizona, financial aid made college possible. Their family has dealt with divorce and unemployment over the last several years. Without financial aid, Bryan says, he’d probably be working at least two jobs off campus. “It would be a lot more difficult,” he says. —Courtesy of USA Funds