Chrystal's Early Enrollment

As some of you may know, I have been accepted into the Running Start program at CCRI. This means I will be starting college one year earlier and will be earning the high school credits I need to graduate, while I start college. I will still be able to participate in my class' Senior activities such as Prom, sports, and other clubs and I will also be graduating Tiverton High School with my class in the beginning of June, 2015. To be accepted into this program, I had to qualify with a GPA of at least a 3.0, while mine is somewhere around 3.5, and i also had to get a specific grade on the Accuplacer test. I am one of a hundred other current seniors from across Rhode Island to be this fortunate to start my future early. 

I have recently been thinking about majoring in Mechanical Engineering. For anyone who knows me, they know that I am very creative and love learning new ways to do certain tasks. I have always been interested in how everyday tools, toys, and other things work, it fascinates me. Ever since I went on an all girl field trip to a program called GRLtech, I wanted to learn more about engineering. GRLtech is a group based on showing females how powerful and helpful we can be in the world of creating things. Since there are not very many female engineers, that program was made specifically to increase the knowledge in girls about different types of engineering and what you can do. Therefore, in the next two years I will be at CCRI getting general education classes and then transferring to a bigger college to start my future in Mechanical Engineering. 

One year at CCRI is approximately $5,000, which includes the books for each semester. This will be tough for my family and I because we have had a very difficult time when it comes to financial abilities. I have a waitressing job at a nursing home for $8 an hour but that will not be enough. I have been looking for a second job but it will be hard to work around my current work schedule, as it fluctuates weekly. My mom and myself both agree that our low income should not get in the way of following my dreams and getting a good education. Any donation will help me immensely, even if its $5, it will help me get one step closer to reaching my goal of $5,000. Please, spread the word and help me get to college. I am very thankful for everyone who believes in me and to anyone who helps and prays for me to reach my goal. 

Thank you to everyone who reads this and helps me follow my dreams! 

Love,
Chrystal Santos