Thank you for participating in our December $100 sweepstakes! A total of 55 parents submitted their answers to enter the drawing. Check out what parents learned from the newsletter.
Congrats to our December Sweepstakes Winner, Rose Egbuiwe!
Rose Egbuiwe is the dedicated parent of junior son Josh, and this past month’s sweepstakes winner. Rose has been a part of Inversant for the past 6 years and still has one more year to go before her son Josh graduates from KIPP Academy in Lynn. She currently attends the monthly Learning Circles at KIPP in Lynn, where she and her family are from. Rose first heard about Inversant when the program was still named FUEL in the beginning. She heard about it though KIPP Academy.
Inversant offers families education about the importance of saving for college as well as other components of preparation for college but it was, “The ability to save, even putting away small amounts that were able to help pay for books, tuition, or room and board,” that brought Rose to Inversant. Part of the information that Inversant shares with families at the monthly Learning Circles is the value of saving money especially for education. Inversant families often express how the money that they saved helped them pay for some part of college such as tuition or books. Although Rose did not start saving for college before Inversant, she would recommend that parents start saving early. Her message is, “If you have a child, you have to start saving as early as possible. Even a small amount of money is ok, but just be consistent with your savings and it will start to add up. I would also encourage parents to explore scholarships and grants and not just look at loans.”
Not all families have saved for college before joining Inversant. Rose was one of these parents. She had always planned on her children attending college, but did not know how she would pay for it. Rose and her family take education very seriously. When asked why it was important to attend college, Rose responded,” It helps push you out of poverty and also helps you learn how to network. Any job nowadays requires a college degree as well.” Rose did attend college before working at a Federal Agency and noted that she loved her experience. She wants her children to have the same great experience.
Our families always walk away with something they learned from the Learning Circles. They may have learned how to fill out college applications or search for scholarship and can always take these skills and information with them. Rose said that her favorite workshop was, “The one on how to fill out the FASFA.” She also noted how, “It was so helpful to know what documents to gather ahead of time.” The college application and financial aid process can be tricky for families. This is where the Learning Circles come in handy. “The Learning Circles were so helpful to gain knowledge in how to navigate the college application and acceptance process.”
Rose is preparing to send her final child to college in the next year. She tells us that, “My son [Josh] is currently interested in sports. He’s looking at possibly going to school in Florida, but I’m hoping he will stay closer because of the cost of traveling back and forth. He is currently looking to major in medical science with a minor in sports science.” While watching all of her children attend college is an accomplishment to be proud of, this is not the only thing that Rose is proud of. Rose shares with us that her proudest moment while being a part of Inversant is, “Seeing how much I have saved at the end of the year and being able to put that money towards my child’s education. I love getting my progress reports showing my account balances and seeing them go up a little more each month.” Taking small steps in saving can lead to be big difference in paying for education.