Common Thread

Maria Mendieta entered the Information Systems Building at Wake Forest on Feb. 21 with her 15-monthold daughter, Eliana, on her hip and with her 2-and-ahalf- year-old son, Oswaldo, in tow. “They’re pretty easy babies,” Maria, 19, said. “They have their ups and downs, temper tantrums and mood swings but mostly, they’re pretty easy.” Maria, a senior at Parkland High School, attended the workshop on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid to obtain a new personal identification number and to ensure her high school transcripts had been sent to the college of her choice, Forsyth Tech. Two weeks before the workshop, Maria, who lives at the Children’s Home in Winston-Salem with Oswaldo and Eliana, heard from Forsyth Tech that she had been admitted for the fall 2009 semester. Maria said she was overcome with joy at the news, and immediately called everyone she knew. Maria said she plans on pursuing a degree in nursing. Now she will await an award letter from the community college.

“I would be la primera in my family from Managua, Nicaragua to attend college to further my education and enrich my mind to become a better person,” Maria wrote in an essay included in her Forsyth Tech application.

“Going to college to me would mean that I’ve crossed the borders like my mother once did to have a better life for herself and her unborn child.”

Maria’s mother, Jacqueline, crossed the US-Mexico border nearly 20 years ago after traveling from Managua while she was pregnant with Maria. Upon meeting Maria, one can’t help but be impressed by her resilience and positive attitude. The petite 19-year-old appears to have the uncanny ability to take every adversity life throws at her and transform it into a positive.

Maria said her inspiration to pursue a degree in nursing comes from getting postnatal care challenges. With each trip to the doctor, Maria said her children were helping her practice and learn medicine. Maria said prenatal care for both children was compromised by the fact she had no health insurance.

Currently, Eliana and Oswaldo’s health care insurance is covered under Medicaid. The three of them live at the Children’s Home in Winston-Salem, which provides among other services a non-profit foster care house.

Maria said her Medicaid was cut off when she was living in Florida with her children’s father. At age 17, Maria was caring for one infant child while pregnant with her second. She dropped out of high school so she could work full time to pay the bills. Then she realized her life was going nowhere.

“I know I wanted to keep going on,” she said. “I didn’t want to stop and not finish high school. I’m big on pride. My mom told me to keep going on and no matter how hard life is treating you, keep moving on — think positive and just smile. I’m very determined. I want to do more. On my mom’s side of the family, I’ll be the first one to graduate high school and go to community college.”

Maria moved back to Winston-Salem two years ago from Florida to live with her aunt when she found out she was pregnant with Eliana. Parkland High School represents the fifth school Maria has attended in Winston-Salem. As a child, Maria’s stepfather, Antonio, moved her family to the area in pursuit of jobs in construction. Maria said she moved from school to school due to her family’s nomadic lifestyle. Maria had to take English as a Second Language for three years before she could be mainstreamed at her elementary school.

On the afternoon of Feb. 21, Eliana rests on Maria’s hip eating a cookie, as Oswaldo runs around the main quad at Wake Forest.

“By going to college I would become one less statistic,” Maria continues. “I want to go to college to be able to support my family and give back my knowledge to the community and possibly the world.”

Maria said she moved into the Children’s Home last fall. She doesn’t think of herself as homeless, just someone who’s had to move a lot in her life. Maria’s mother and her four younger siblings plan on moving to Winston- Salem this summer. Maria and her extended family are planning on getting a place together. But for now, the Children’s Home, a non-profit whose mission is “to grow healthy futures for children, adults and families by ministering to the mind, body and spirit,” is a good place to be, she said. “I don’t have to worry about where I’ll be sleeping or how I’m going to get food or a few other things that I had to worry about when I wasn’t there before,” Maria said. “I don’t have to stress a lot. My kids, they have fun.” Maria also takes independent living classes offered by the Children’s Home. Maria wants to transfer from a community college to a four-year institution. She plans on getting her associates degree, then going to work before pursuing a bachelor’s degree and perhaps even a master’s degree someday.

“I’m going to school to get a degree. The size doesn’t really matter,” she said. “I’ve been living on my own. I didn’t have to wait until I got into college to know who I am. I already know who I am and what I want to do for my life and for my kids.” Maria’s resilience is evident in her life stories. She speaks of attending summer school at a Miami-area high school, giving birth to Oswaldo on a Friday afternoon and returning to school the following Monday morning.

“I’m an ambitious, driven soul who wants to help those in need by becoming a traveling nurse, and giving people a lending hand and hope,” Maria said. “Going to college I would be a role model to many young ladies around my age, and most importantly, my babies. I want to demonstrate that even though we make wrong turns, that sets us off balance or life hits us in many directions, we must continue ahead in life to pursue our goals and dreams.”

Having options

Laura Besterci returned to her home in the Adams Farm subdivision of Greensboro on Feb. 17 to find a letter from UNC-Chapel Hill waiting for her. Laura, a senior at Ragsdale High School, had just come from band practice. Laura handled the thin letter as if she already knew the contents.

“It says they need my letter of recommendation to complete my application,” Laura said with a heavy sigh. Laura said she applied to UNC and the University of Texas because of their nationally ranked business schools, but she’s not getting her hopes up. Some of Laura’s friends who applied early had their applications deferred by UNC. Considering her friends’ academic standing, Laura thinks it’s a long shot she’ll be accepted to Chapel Hill. But she has options. Due in large part to constant reminders from her mother, Ann, to complete her applications last fall, Laura has already received acceptance letters from Western Carolina, Appalachian State and UNC Wilmington. At first, Laura was leaning toward UNCW, but now she’s thinking she’ll enroll at Appalachian State in the fall. But she will wait for letters from UNC and Texas, which are due to go out on March 20. Once Laura makes her final decision, her family will have to figure out how to pay for it. “Our nest egg is about half of what it was,” Ann Besterci said. “We had plenty to go four years if we had to pay the whole thing and it’s about half of what it was due to the economy.”

Last month, Ann said she was laid off from her administrative assistant job, which has made paying for Laura’s tuition, room and board an even greater challenge.

Ann said she’s put herself in charge of researching all possible scholarships Laura could qualify for. Ann admits she missed Appalachian State’s final financial aid deadline to submit Laura’s FAFSA, so she’s hopeful that next year, her daughter will qualify for student aid. Ann said she researched other scholarships on www.fastweb.com, a free scholarship search-engine website. As a result of her research, Ann bought Laura The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. If Laura reads the book and writes an essay, she can get up to $10,000 toward college.

Ann said scholarships seem to be hard to come by even for top students like Laura if you are considered middle- or upper middle-class by FAFSA standards.

“You have to be a genius [to gain a scholarship] and yes, Laura’s very smart. She’s not the valedictorian so she’s a bit lost in the mix,” Ann said. “It seemed that if you were trying to do all the right things, it seems like you were kind of penalized unless you were an athlete.”

Tom Benza, assistant director of financial aid at Wake Forest University, agreed with Ann’s assessment of the inadequacies of the FAFSA form. “What you frequently find is there is ‘high need’ and ‘no need’ and the middle section is really getting squeezed,” Benza said. “We’re talking the middle income range — two parents both with incomes.

At that level, the students are really only qualifying for federal loan aid and possibly federal work study.” Benza added that federal grant aid is reserved for the neediest of the needy, those families receiving temporary assistance or with incomes less than $20,000.

“Everyone else is trying to bridge the gap,” Benza said. But there is good news for parents of college-bound seniors. Last year, Congress raised the maximum Pell Grant to $4,500.

And this year, each student applying for financial aid can request up to $2,000 in a Stafford non-need based loan, Benza said. As high school seniors wait and watch for that elusive acceptance letter, the clock continues to tick. “You’ve got your May 1 deadline to get your tuition deposit in to hold your spot, so you’re in this crunch time with all this money due at one time,” she said. Terri Jones, a good friend of the Besterci family, said parents of college-bound seniors quickly learn that well-rounded students have an advantage in the competition for financial aid. Jones’ son, Parker, is a classmate of Laura’s.

Terri said all three of her children have gone on mission trips, excelled in Scouts and perform work with the local urban ministry.

“They’re well-rounded people and I think when you go to apply now that counts as much as your GPA,” Jones said. Ann Besterci concurred with Jones.

“All colleges are going to look for the same things,” she said. “Even this year, I pushed [Laura] to be on the softball team, because it looks good that you didn’t do it just one year and quit.”

The competition gets stiffer as enrollment at area universities has seen an uptick this year. Last year, Wake Forest received 9,000 applications, and this year the school has already surpassed 11,000 applications, Benza said. Financial aid applications rise with the tide. Wake Forest, like a number of other private institutions, has had to implement a tuition increase.

Ann Besterci is confident her family will find a way to put Laura through college. Laura is still awaiting letters from UNC and Texas, but it appears she’s made her decision.

“Already having a roommate picked out for App, that makes it more appealing,” Laura said. “I wasn’t really for Wilmington because I don’t know how to swim. The beach scene will be there and I don’t know how to do it because I can’t swim. I might fall on my butt a couple of times snowboarding.”

A late start

In the late afternoon, east Winston-Salem falls under the shadow of US Highway 52 as the sun sinks slowly behind the downtown skyscrapers. The ribbon of highway has long been considered a social and economic dividing line in a city built by the tobacco and textile industries.
As Robert Bernard Willis rode along Cleveland Avenue en route to his home on March 4, he pointed out two young men standing on the street corner.

“You see what I’m talking about?” he said. Minutes earlier, Robert, a high school senior, had discussed what growing up in east Winston-Salem has been like for him while sitting in the guidance office of Mount Tabor High School.

Maria Mendieta, a senior at Parkland High School, works on her Free Application for Federal Student Aid while her 15-month-old daughter Eliana waits during FAFSA Day at Wake Forest on Feb. 21. Mendieta plans on enrolling at Forsyth Tech this fall and pusuing her associates degree in nursing with the ultimate goal of working in the health care field. (photo by Keith T. Barber)

“I can leave here right now, and probably go get some drugs, and I can start selling them as soon as I leave here. That’s how easy it is,” he said. “It’s just around me. It’s always been around me, everywhere I go, everywhere I move.” Robert said he stays on the straight and narrow “to get to a better place.”

Constance Dewberry, Robert’s guidance counselor at Mount Tabor, said his high school transcript is not an accurate reflection of his abilities as a student.

“Have you applied anywhere, Robert?” Dewberry asked. “Winston-Salem State, but I couldn’t give them the $40 for it,” Robert replied, referring to the application fee. Dewberry informed Robert that since he received an application fee waiver for the SAT, he would qualify for a waiver for his WSSU application. Dewberry also pointed out that admissions counselors from the school have come to Mount Tabor on several occasions throughout the school year, and Robert failed to take advantage of the opportunity. Dewberry said the most challenging aspect of working with Robert is his reluctance to reach out for help. The one-hour conference Dewberry had with Robert on March 4 appeared to be the most productive session of his high school career. Dewberry, who has served as a guidance counselor for 18 years, said she has a number of students like Robert who have the ability but not the parental involvement to give them that extra push. “I don’t know if he has developed the capacity to reach out for help,” Dewberry said. “If he had facilitated this conference a long time ago or his mom or someone from his family had facilitated it, he would probably have an acceptance letter now. I rely upon students and parents to get to me.” Typically, Robert has only met with Dewberry if he had a problem with a teacher or needed assistance with credit recovery. Dewberry pushed Robert on March 4 to define his first college of choice. Robert said he’s always wanted to attend Winston-Salem State.

“I was interested because it was real close to my family,” Robert said. “It’s right down the street from where I’m at. My granddad’s been sick. That’s what mostly been on my mind all the time. I don’t want to go too far in case something happens to him.” One call placed to Douglas Kilgore secured Robert an appointment on March 6. Kilgore requested Robert bring four things with him to the meeting: his high school transcript, an application fee waiver form, a criminal background check and an explanation of a suspension from school.

Robert gathered all the required paperwork and met with Kilgore at the Anderson Building on the WSSU campus on the morning of March 6. Kilgore pored over Robert’s high school transcript, while he waited expectantly.

“I can go as low as a 2.5 and 800 [on the SAT] but the student has to have both,” Kilgore said. “The SAT doesn’t seem like a problem for you, but your GPA is going to prevent me from working with you. I could even go as low as a 2.4, or a 2.3 but that’s where the board cuts it off. Robert’s current GPA is 2.18. “I think you’re an excellent student, Robert, and I want you to be a Ram, but I don’t think I can get you in here as a freshman,” Kilgore continued. “I’m going to have to get you in here as a transfer student.”

The fact Robert’s transcript reflects he’s met the UNC system course requirements means he can be admitted with 12 semester credit hours from a community college, Kilgore said. “It’s good that you’re getting a college prep diploma. You did take the right courses so that will lessen your time at the community college,” he said. “What you take at Forsyth Tech will determine whether or not we admit you.” Kilgore explained to Robert that if he could take 12 hours this summer at Forsyth Tech, he could enter WSSU as a transfer statement in the fall. But he didn’t recommend the crash course approach.

“I can admit you if you take 12 semester credits, college transferable credits,” Kilgore said. Kilgore pointed out there is an upcoming policy and procedural change for the UNC system that will elevate the requirement to 30 semester hours. He said Robert might be able to complete his credit hours before the policy change. In general, Kilgore said the high school seniors he interviews are generally better prepared for college than those from previous years.

“I think students are getting more academically talented, but I think it’s a necessity to survive in this economy,” he said. Robert, a starting defensive back on the Mount Tabor football team, said he’s interested in enrolling at Central Carolina Sports Academy in Greensboro to continue his football career. Robert said playing in the state championship game in 2007 helped solidify his decision to play football in college.

Robert said he wants to be the first person from his family to graduate from college. “It would mean a whole lot,” he said. “Right about now, I can tell you that all eyes are on me. Of the three kids my momma got, I’m the last to graduate. My granddad, I think he believes in me, but he wants to see what I’m capable of.” Robert said he’s determined to stay on course to graduate from college, because he’s witnessed so many dreams shattered on the streets of east Winston-Salem.

“I see people going through a lot with their families, they just figure they do whatever, go deal drugs, but I maintain myself well,” Robert said. “ I ain’t done nothing; I’m still in school. That’s why I wake up thinking I could be somewhere else or doing something else, but still I’m holding on as much as I can.”