Especially since the pandemic, more people have discovered that they would prefer to attend a trade school or start their own business at a younger age rather than attend a traditional four-year college or community college.
That said, making it through college admissions paperwork has become harder than ever, and drastically more expensive in the United States.
But one student discovered that she could get the help she needed, if she only asked for it.
Law school Jayda Peets is now attending William and Mary's Law School, but not before she made some important, even life-changing, connections at the college during her college admissions period.
In addition to completing her admissions paperwork, Peets also applied for a lesser-known scholarship, but she began to lose faith when she did not hear about the status of it for a long period of time. Without financial assistance, Peets feared she would not be able to attend, whether she was accepted or not.
Her mother challenged her to contact the school, reminding her that the worst the school could do was tell her no, and that she did not receive the scholarship.
Peets then contacted the Dean of William and Mary's Law School, and while the Dean was at first confused about the status of the scholarship, she later called Peets back with an update, and informed her that she had saved 300 thousand dollars on her tuition.
You can watch the video here:
After this video received serious attention, Peets shared a follow-up "story time" video, where she explained that there was more to the story than simply making a phone call.
During her college admissions process, Peets had visited the school on multiple occasions to begin establishing professional relationships with the people who would be her mentors, colleagues, and those working in Admissions and other student service offices. She also organized another visit for students who were interested in the school to demonstrate her interest and work ethic.
Peets reflected:
“They were able to see my work ethic beforehand, and just get my personality. I wasn’t just a name on a piece of paper. They had to put a name with a face, and it was me.”
So while Peets' request to the Dean had surprised her, the final decision was more easily made, likely because of Peets' early involvement on campus.
You can watch the story time video here:
Fellow TikTokers applauded Peets' work ethic and ability to ask tough questions.
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Some even shared their own stories of success after also seeking out their own yeses.
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This is a great reminder that sometimes success is only one question away, and when you want something so badly that you're willing to appear on campus, make connections, and ask follow-up questions, it eventually becomes a no-brainer to say yes to you.
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AMC