Thank you for participating in our November $100 sweepstakes! A total of 15 parents submitted their answers to enter the drawing. This month’s sweepstakes winner is Kathleen O’Donnell of Revere.
Kathleen knows value of a college education. As someone in works in human resources, she has seen how having a degree can help you rise in the stacks of applications. “Having an education is so important because it allows you to gain a better job,” says Kathleen.
When it came to her two children, James and Kathryn, going to college someday was always the plan. “They didn’t have a choice,” she says with laughter. “I always knew I wanted them both to go to college and be able to work in the field of their choice.”
Kathleen learned about Inversant last year through a fellow parent from her children’s school, Revere High School. “What first attracted me to the program was the education aspect, but when I heard about the matched savings I thought, ‘this is too good to be true!’”
The information Kathleen gained through the Learning Circles was a huge help in sending her oldest, James, to college this fall at College of the Holy Cross. The Learning Circle she says that helped her the most was on filling out the FAFSA application. With requirements and documents for the FAFSA constantly changing year to year, this is often the case with many Inversant families.
With her one son studying at College of the Holy Cross, Kathleen is now helping her daughter think about colleges and possible majors. “Kathryn is a junior at Revere High School, so college is approaching soon,” says Kathleen. “So far we have been on 5 college visits throughout Massachusetts. She’s beginning to think about a possible major as well – either engineering or computer science.”
One piece of advice Kathleen would like to let other parents know when it comes to the cost of college – “sticker shock.” “We definitely had some sticker shock when it came to the cost of college,” says Kathleen. “So I encourage parents to be prepared, and to save as early and as often as they possibly can.”
Don’t miss your chance to win the next $100 sweepstakes! You have until December 31 to submit your answers to November’s survey. Email [email protected] if you have not received our newsletters or sweepstakes surveys. For more details, please visit www.inversant.org/sweepstakes.