Opinion: Investing in dreams — the power of support at Salt Lake Community College

Yahoo

20-02-2025

My father is from Ghana, and though he did not have the means to pursue education beyond high school, its importance was emphasized in our home. He told me that education will open doors for you more than anything else, and it can never be taken away from you.
So, when I found myself a single mother at 18, I knew I had to find a way to access education, no matter how hard it was going to be.
I started at Salt Lake Community College not only because it was the most affordable tuition but also because I could access child care. The college's child care centers, located at three campuses, supplement the cost for low-income parents. I was working two jobs, one as a CNA and one on-campus, as I was earning a biology degree with plans for nursing school.
I was a Black, single, teen mom and prepared to be judged and doubted, but the opposite happened. SLCC's small class sizes and easy access to teachers personalized everyone's story. Professors and staff looked for ways to support me.
When I was tired in my evening chemistry class, the professor didn't call me out. Instead, he checked in with me later and found out why I was so tired. He became a mentor, along with others, who wanted to see me succeed. Up to that point, I had never had a Black instructor. My attitude shifted from pessimism to purpose: I was pursuing an education to improve my life and my son's.
Now I have an inside view of how SLCC strives to help students access and achieve additional education. As a member of SLCC's Board of Trustees, I've learned a lot about the demographics of SLCC students and what they need.
Most of SLCC's students — 80% — live and work in Utah. Two-thirds work while attending college, and the majority attend part-time because they are juggling so much. Almost half are the first in their families to attend college, so they need help navigating this new terrain. I've learned that SLCC meets students where they are and focuses on reducing barriers to college.
One of the biggest obstacles for most of our students is affordability. They want to be here, working hard, if they can afford it. Through donations, SLCC has been able to offer nearly $3 million annually in scholarships to all kinds of students, and because our tuition is so low, these dollars go far, benefiting more than 4,000 students.
On the board, we are deeply aware that despite our students' grit and resilience, staying in school can be overwhelming at times. We've seen relatively small, unexpected expenses tip students into a downward spiral, resulting in them dropping out of school. In response, SLCC created a safety net, the Bruin Emergency Fund, to help students with one-time financial emergencies. For example, it could help a single parent who cannot afford to replace a $200 car battery, which then prevents her from taking her kids to school and getting herself to her classes and her job. Or the unexpected medical bill that could mean coming up short for rent and risking eviction.
This donor-supported emergency fund helps students get by and stay focused on their education, so they can eventually become more financially secure in their futures. Lifting families out of poverty lifts Utah.
While these, along with the college's child care centers and four food pantries, help our current students, SLCC's highly successful PACE program focuses on high school students who qualify for free/reduced lunch or who come from families where no one has attended college. This mentoring program, now in six local high schools, guides students through all four years, and eventually they receive a six-semester scholarship to SLCC.
I've heard PACE scholars say they didn't see themselves as college material, because they couldn't even begin to imagine how they would get there. Thanks to donors, more than 700 high school PACE students are realizing what is possible.
Many of the students here are their parent's dream, as I was. Education makes these dreams a reality, and sometimes it takes a village to help them come to fruition. Please consider supporting SLCC's students on the college's 2025 Giving Day, Feb. 20.