Welcome to Mindshift Power podcast, a show for teenagers and the adults who work with them, where we have raw and honest conversations. I'm your host, Fatima Bey, the mind shifter. And welcome, everyone. Today, we have with us Jennifer Ledwick. She is out of Houston, Texas, and she is the owner of Scholar Ready.

And in today's episode, we're we're gonna talk about the realities of paying for college. And we're gonna talk about real situations that everybody falls finds themselves in, not just the ideal ones. Because often when we're having these conversations, we're talking about ideas that half of the people can't even fit into. And we want you all to be able to really relate. We're gonna give you real real, real, real advice today.

So if you're getting ready for college, or if you're a parent or guardian, no matter what your situation, this is for you. How are you today? I am well, Fatima. Thank you so much for welcoming me to your podcast. Well, I'm looking forward to this conversation, and I wanna start off with allowing you to tell the audience what we had a conversation, that you said something to me that I thought was so well said that it needs to be said on the air.

So tell me what you were talking about, when you said you when you were talking about looking at long term benefits of a degree. Okay. When we think about a degree, often people first of all, people go to college for different reasons. One of the primary reasons people choose to attend college is for vocational training or in other words to develop the skills, to acquire the certifications and know how to get a quote good job, a good paying job after college. And people often focus on the majors that pay really well when people graduate from college.

For example, petroleum engineering, computer science, things of study thing things of that magnitude. And that's a I mean, yes. That's great. That's that in the short term, those students are gonna make really good money. Those graduates are gonna make really good money right out of college.

But people need to think of a college degree as a tool to give people options throughout a long career. For example, some students may think of may they're like, I don't you know, they may be discouraged from majoring in say communications or sociology or journalism because people may say, well, what are you gonna do with that? You're only gonna make you're you're gonna make a small amount of money with that degree. I mean, you why did you even go to college? Because you could've gone and, you know, got taken on a job that didn't require all that education, didn't require all those student loans maybe, didn't require that expense, and you could be making the same amount of money.

但人們需要考慮它的長遠利益。我的意思是，歐普拉溫芙瑞擁有新聞學學士學位，她就是歐普拉。你看看那些策劃政治運動的人，他們精心策劃訊息傳遞，幫助影響我們將選出誰來擔任下一任總統、參議員或眾議員等等。這些人擁有所謂的專業學位，這些學位在大學畢業時並不能賺很多錢。我敢打賭，在他們職業生涯的這個階段，他們的收入相當可觀，而且，因為他們擁有這些學位，也因為他們一直在建立這些人脈，他們在生活中面臨著重要的選擇。

And when we think about getting a degree, we wanna think about the long game. Think about sometimes students feel like they have to pursue something in STEM, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics because it's that's the path to a high paying job. But that's not the only path to a high paying job. And of course there are reasons why Right. People it's great if you're passionate about those things.

But you can you can study something that you really, really like and if it fits into an overall plan and if the student is able to use that degree and work it and parlay it into a worthwhile career, the degree is worthwhile. It it has value. Some people say, oh, well, why'd you get a degree in that particular major, and you should have just gone and done that one because it pays more, the jobs tied to it pay more, but don't listen to that. Come up with a long term plan, work your plan, and you're gonna see it's gonna pay off. Yes.

I I think that I think that's so such a big deal. A lot of times people are thinking about, oh, they're thinking about one position, and then and they're narrowly focused on that so they go to school based on that. And not really look at, okay, what else can you do with that degree? Because maybe you decide that you wanna do you wanna deliver babies, and then you you get go through all this medical training and you get there and you finally start delivering babies. You're like, I can't freaking stand this.

我比較願意從事腦外科手術或其他醫學領域的工作。好吧，這沒什麼不好。你可以這麼做。但是，是的，我認為這一點非常非常重要，要考慮你的學位帶來的長期利益，以及你能用它做什麼，因為你可以用它做很多事情。

Now I said in the beginning that this is for everyone. If you're going to college or if you're a parent or guardian of someone going to college, no matter what your situation is, this episode is for you. So right now, I want you to state, what are the three primary different, kinds of teens, that we're talking to, that this episode is really for? That everybody fits into one of these three categories. Fits in one of these three categories.

You have the students whose parents are who can you have parents who are, who have the money to send their kids to college. They have the resources to to pay for their kids to go to college, and they're also very engaged Right. In the process. And then you have those students whose parents don't have the money, don't have the resources, but the parents are very engaged and very supportive. And then that third group are students whose parents are not supportive.

我說的父母，其實是指家裡的成年人。無論家裡的成年人是誰。是的。沒錯。他們並沒有支持學生的大學之路。

So three groups. You have supportive parents with the resources to send their students to college, you have supportive parents who do not have the resources to send their kids to college, and then you have that third group of students whose adults at home do not are not supporting them in their pursuit of a higher education. With or without money? Yeah. With or without money.

是的。是的。是的。至於缺乏支持，我只是想在這裡評論一下，因為我見過這種情況，這種缺乏是因為人們認為，當他們提供有關如何支付大學學費以及其他所有相關建議的信息時，人們會想當然地認為每個人都有支持他們的父母。而我在這裡要告訴你，我確實見過一些父母試圖破壞自己的孩子。

Can you talk about that a little bit more? Because you've seen it one time. Parents sabotage their students. I've seen parents sabotage their kids. And when and sometimes there are adults who are looking from the outside in trying to understand, number one, why is that parent doing that?

第二，我能如何幫助那位學生？因為這個學生很有潛力，卻沒有得到他/她應得的支持。所以，首先，你要思考，問問自己，為什麼家長不支持他/她？你知道，身為人類，我們都會做一些對自己有益的事。想想為什麼這可能會對那位家長有益。

Maybe that parent has other children, has younger children and that student who is college bound is providing childcare, is is a chauffeur, is is cooking. Yep. Is may maybe the student has a job, which we know a part time job in the short term will pay more than or beg your pardon. Working full time in a job outside of high school, right out of high school is gonna pay more Right. Than what a college student can earn in the short term.

So that parent is benefiting from that student being there. Also, the parent may be jealous of there are some parents who are jealous of their students. Bingo. And they're jealous of them. Yeah.

And they don't want their kids to do better than them. There there are parents like that. So we if you so if you're an adult on the outside looking in wanting to help this student who wants to go to college, you have to figure out how you can it's a tricky balance because you have to show respect to that parent and at the same time you still wanna guide that student to, to going to college. So if it were me guiding that student who doesn't have that support from that parent, I would say I would try to make it to where because and often parents like that have control issues and they, you know, in some instances, they really really wanna control their kids for they like power and control. That's why they had children so they could have power and control over somebody because they can't control, they don't have power in their own lives.

So but one thing is I mean, one thing that's good most likely is that the parent is allowing the student to go to school. So what you wanna do is you wanna make sure as the adult on the outside looking in, maybe you're a neighbor, maybe you're a family, maybe you're a relative, maybe you are a an educator at the school. Got make sure that student can get what he or she needs at the school. Make make sure and and if you and and may and you as the care as the caring adult, maybe you can show up to the events at the school to support that student in pursuing an education. But I would try to make everything as an adult on the outside looking in.

I would try to make sure that that student gets everything he or she needs from the school. Maybe there is a, a counselor or another teacher at the school who, who favors the student, and you can talk to that teacher. You can talk with that educator and say, hey, you know, you know, while you're after school hosting tutorials, you know, can so and so can this young person come sit in your room and and work on some applications? That's the main thing. The main thing is making figuring out a way to make sure that they get the resources at the one place that the parent is gonna be okay for him or for him to go, for for him for he or she to go.

Because after school, the parent is not going to want the student to do that. The the the child is probably working or providing daycare or helping to run that household. And you have to think of ways to help them to get it done in school because if you can get that student to, you know, if you can get the student to have all of the get get all of the paperwork in and and get to high school graduation, I mean, after that, it's a wrap. The the college acceptance is in and and the student can go, you know, theoretically. The student the student can go, I don't know how to address it if the parent says, oh, no.

You can't leave here. I don't I don't I don't know how to now I don't know how to address that part. Well, I since you're talking about that, I did wanna bring up a subgroup within the unsupportive parent group. And I I just think it's so important to talk about this because there's so many kids sitting out there with unsupportive unsupportive parents, and they think they're the only ones. And they're discouraged.

It's very easy for them to get discouraged, and some of them do end up hurting their lives and not pursuing further education because they think they don't have to. Some there are parents out there who are just straight up just ignorant. Ignorant and when I ignorant when I say the word ignorant, I don't mean that as just an insult. I mean that ignorant means lack of knowledge. So if you have a parent who never finished high school, they work hard and they provide, but they don't believe in further education because they never received it themselves.

Though, to me, those are the hardest ones to deal with, sometimes and because they have this mentality of you don't need education. You just need to work and pay bills, and that's your exist that's your existence, which we both know is that's not what we're put up here on earth for. But, but for people like that, it's hard. Now what you were just saying about you don't know what to say to someone whose parent is like, I can't go, I have actually seen that and helped, talk someone through that, where the similar to what you're describing. I think if they are 18, it's hard because you're technically still a minor.

It also depends on the state that you're in because we're you know, this podcast is for The US and Canada. I don't know the rules in Canada, but I know in The US, in most states, if you're 18, you are technically an adult. Legally, you can do what you want. Now just because you can do it legally, it doesn't mean it's so easy because you still have ties at home. So this is where I and I'm talking to the audience right now.

This is where I think Jennifer's advice is so dead on, is so extremely important that we, who are on the outside looking in, who are want to be the, supportive adults, this is where we can step in and be creative with how we do it. As she said, there's a fine line because you wanna respect a parent. You don't wanna just go all in there all bullish. You're like, I'm taking your child because you ain't doing right by her. La la la la la.

There's some people who do stuff like that, and that is a foolish way to handle things. You might be well intended, but that's not a a good way to handle things. Use some wisdom and be creative and figure out how can I help them to get out of their juvenile prison and get into, you know, the a better future for themselves? Once they get out, how can we keep them out? You know, you really have to think about that.

And I'm not saying that I have all the answers either, but I'm saying that we have to get think outside the box in those situations. There are answers, but those answers aren't gonna be the same for everyone. Correct. And I have actually helped someone with that, and I did it without talking to the parent. I walked the child through how to handle it, what they can do.

I coach them through it, basically. And what can you do in a situation like that? There are there are answers, but those answers, like I said, are not gonna be the same for everyone. And I just I really wanted to speak to that because I know that the child that I helped with, it wasn't just them. There are so many other kids out there who have unsupportive parents, out of either general ignorance or jealousy.

I really think that jealousy is is at least 50% of them. And that's a big, big one. And the parent might not recognize that that's where it's coming from. It's a whole psychological game. But it's at the end of the day, it's really selfish to try to sabotage your child in their future.

But if you if you have a parent like that's like that and you are listening to me, you can get out of it. You just gotta find the right adult to help you walk through it. Now you just gave some advice of of what to do when you have supportive parents. What advice do you have for the the the, the teenager who has supportive parents because they ain't got no money? Okay.

沒關係。他們有支持他們的父母，但他們沒有錢。所以這很好，而且人數眾多，數量可觀。是的。他們需要做的是，看看自己擁有什麼，看看自己有哪些可用的資源。

例如，他們需要一個大家都需要討論的方案，這樣才能得到家長的支持。這很好。所以，所有送孩子上大學的人都應該坐下來好好談談。例如，我知道我上大學的時候，除了獎學金，我還得到了家人的支持，不只是家裡的人，還有家人以外的人。如果每個人都坐下來好好談談，討論一下誰在什麼時候支付了什麼費用，用什麼方式支付，那將大有裨益。

And when I say that it could be, well, who is taking out a loan for how how for how much money and when are they gonna do it and what is that repayment plan going to be. They need to they need to start with going to a college's net price. And so once they have an idea of what they're willing to spend, that's the first thing. People need to start with what they're willing to contribute. Like, what what is the budget?

我不……對。別看這些大學告訴你的價格是多少。例如，你知道，預算是多少？你有多少？例如，你知道，如果你去買房，你知道，你不會去…當你去買房的時候，你應該心裡有個數，看看你能負擔得起多少錢。

And and then so what you but don't let the high price high sticker tag high price tag of a school discourage you from applying because there are wonderful, fantastic universities that are some of the most expensive colleges to attend. Yet, if a student has the right kind of, app they if they say the right things on their application, then that school will probably grant them enough money to where it's cheaper for them to go to that elite college than it would be for them to go to a state school. You know what? I've I have discovered that that is true. I I was surprised because I just assumed state schools would be cheaper because in in some situations and often it it is.

But that's when you're looking at the initial price tag. But when you look at the assistance you can get at each school, my god, is it different. And it is oh my god, is it different. And, I could think about a young lady right now. She got a better deal, going to the private school she's going to than she had gone to a state school, which surprised me.

But it is but it I can tell you it's true. Now I'm in New York state, so I know it's not the same in in every state. But, yeah, look for the programs that are out there. And and I wanna add to that. I wanna add to that.

我想搭詹妮弗剛才說的「順便」的便車。 「別這樣，我改一下。」別想當然地認為答案是否定的，也別以為你付不起錢。試試看，試試看。

Try. Try. Try. Because not trying guarantees you definitely don't get in. And it might be you know, it's like, oh, I'm a guaranteed failure if I don't try.

Well, of course. Of course you are. You gotta try. You gotta try. You gotta try.

申請！申請！申請！別幹坐著等天上掉餡餅。如果有人拒絕你，那也沒關係。

Go find it somewhere else. You you gotta be like that in life, and if you might as well start with college. Absolutely. They they need to look and and that, Fatima, you bring up a good point. They need to try and try and try, which means they need to have a broad selection of colleges that they are pursuing.

When they think about when they they need to run the net price calculator, and you can go to a school's website and find the net price calculator. And that's gonna help Right. Go ahead. I'll go ahead. Go ahead.

Oh, no. I just said Yeah. And that'll help them to understand what an estimate of what the cost will be. And so once you go after you get that price tag for the net price calculator, then start looking at the school's, scholarships list, look at the school's financial aid office information, and start looking at the scholarships. For most students, most students largest source of scholarships will be their college or university.

Not I mean, I know that people are applying for the little small ones, the ones that are a thousand here, 500 there. Mhmm. And and that's great because there is more I mean, okay. Yeah. That's more than you had before you started.

But the main focus should be on the scholarships from the institutions. Because a because I'm a tell you something. That $1,000 scholarship is that that that community organization offers, and I'm a part of a community organization that offers thousand dollar scholarships, and we do great work. And I'm very pleased with what you do. At the same time, you know, that scholarship is not gonna keep up with tuition inflation.

That is not yeah. Because the colleges, you know, and community organization can give you a thousand dollars, but a college can say, oh, we're gonna give you we're gonna pay for your your tuition, your fees, your books, your room, your board. That's the thing. They they have the power to do that. Who else has the power to do that?

是的，他們確實如此。而且，還有一些項目。有些大學有一些項目，你必須參加，才能獲得針對性的幫助。我知道紐約州有，我知道你在德州，但我只能談談紐約州的情況。他們有平等機會計畫（EOP）。

我想是的。它的名字是平等機會計劃。我想它的意思應該是高等教育機會計劃（HEOP）。如果我錯了，如果我的縮寫用錯了，或者縮寫詞的意思錯了，請指正。

但這些項目在紐約州非常棒。它們最初設立的目的是幫助有色人種進入他們原本無法進入的學校系統。而且，這些計畫在培養一些對社會最有貢獻的成員方面有著良好的記錄。所以我非常相信這個項目，而且我看到我認識一些人參與其中。我看到一些人透過這些計畫在事業上取得了巨大的成功。

But it's that's that's a New York state thing. There are other states out there that have similar type of programs. They may go by different names. I don't know what they're calling every state, but people look for them. Don't ever accept anything as, well, nope.

This is all we can do for you. That's bullshit. Try harder. Look for more. There's programs out there that there's so many programs out there that are not always well advertised, in every state.

每個州都有一些可以幫助人們支付大學學費的計劃，但這些計劃並不總是被大肆宣傳。我想補充一下獎學金。我之前已經跟很多人講過這個。很多人認為獎學金不適合他們。我們在學校的成績只有C，所以我的成績不好，我們根本沒有資格拿到獎學金。

That's crap too. Try. And if you try for a hundred, you get rejected for 90, you might get 10, but you're guaranteed to get nothing if you try for nothing. So just just try. And I I just feel so strongly about this because I've I've just seen people make just such dramatic, important, intensely important decisions based on what they think they can get instead of actually trying, and it hurts them.

And I hate to see that because I wanna see everybody successful. Do you have any other advice for people with So people without money. So first so run the net price calculator. Look at the scholarships from the colleges and universities. Also, take the PSAT, SAT, and ACT seriously.

很多大學都把考試成績當作選修項目。我想，我認為美國很多學校都是這樣。很多學校都把考試成績當作選修項目。而且，他們一直不斷修改，要求學生提交考試成績才能入學。但一直以來，許多學校在提供獎學金時，都會要求學生提交SAT和ACT成績。

好的。通常情況下，有很多人屬於沒錢上大學，他們可能沒錢上大學，但聯邦政府可能會說，哇，哇，哇。你有足夠的錢上大學，我們認為你可以每年為你孩子的大學教育貢獻幾萬，甚至一萬美元。

And that parent is looking at the at the at the federal government and thinking, where am I gonna get this money from every year? So and those people those people who make too much money to qualify for financial aid, need based financial aid, but not enough money to pay for actually pay. They really need to look at merit based scholarships. And so many of the merit based scholarships Oh, okay. Are tied to the exams.

關於考試，人們沒有意識到的是，你需要儘早開始準備。我說的儘早，是指你需要從十年級就開始關注 PSAT 分數，因為 PSAT 分數確實可以獲得與國家優秀學生獎學金掛鉤的獎學金，但那隻是針對我們學生中排名前 1% 的學生，而對於其他 99% 的學生來說，其他 99% 的學生需要查看這些考試分數，看看他們在 SAT 和 ACT考試中的表現如何，因為這些分數是最重要的事情之一，所以我可以在這裡談一些事情，但我要說的是，不要等到最後一刻才準備好。我常有家長在學生高三之前打電話給我，他們總是告訴我這件事。

They say my student scored this on the exam and it just doesn't reflect their potential because my student is getting a's and b's in all, you know, all her classes and all her teachers love her and and all of that. But the thing is like there is a big gap between what the students know and what their grades are. Students in high school often are not getting grades based on the mastery of the material. They their teacher could be giving a grade to them because maybe the school district will not allow the teacher to fail the students. Maybe the school district doesn't allow the teacher to give homework that the students complete at home.

Maybe the so maybe the school district isn't honest about the reading proficiency of its students. Maybe maybe that student is in advanced classes and and rightfully so. But then maybe Johnny's mother wanted Johnny to be in the advanced classes to boost his grade point average, but Johnny has no business being in there because he doesn't have the the he doesn't have the fundamentals of that subject matter to do well in that class. So what happens is you have this teacher who has 20 or 30 students in one classroom, and that teacher is teaching students across multiple reading levels. So if you're a teacher and you have 20 or 30 students and you have students in multiple reading levels, how are you gonna help lift the students who should be in there?

It's not realistic. So that so the and that has a and that has an effect on how well the students do on SAT and ACT because those tests are knowledge exams. Those are they're about background knowledge. They're about reading. Often people will say, oh, well, my child has test anxiety.

好吧，好吧。嗯，是的。這倒是真的，不過你猜怎麼著？我來自德克薩斯州。我來自一個社區，那裡有一所學校，而這所學校一直是州橄欖球冠軍的有力競爭者。

Okay? You can't tell me those young men aren't nervous when they get out on that field to play. You can't tell me they don't get a little anxious. These are the same you know? But guess what?

They go out there and they perform, and they get the job done. So it's I I know that test anxiety is real, and I do believe that there's a segment of the population who just cannot perform. Just like you have people who have stage fright and they just have so much stage fright, they can't go out and perform. But you the rest of us can can manage our anxiety and do well, and we manage it through preparation. Sometimes people say, oh, well, you know, she's just not he's not good at taking tests.

She's not good at taking tests. No. They are not good at preparing for the tests, and and that's what's happening. Like, you show me a kid who you say is not good at taking tests and you show me the preparation. You show me the process.

And I will guarantee you that that student is not fulfilling his or her capacity. So parents need to start very early with looking at the test because I'm a tell you what these tests can do. I have a student who, came to me to prepare for ACT, and the highest that a student can score on the ACT is a 36. That student, we prepared, for I prepared him for his exam, and his ACT score went from a 24 to a 27. Consequently, his college gave him 20,000 additional dollars for scholarship.

Wow. So I want people to think about what that means. That means that this young man is going to is has $20,000 that he doesn't have to repay. Because $20,000 a 20,000 scholarship is worth way more than $20,000. Because when you start talking about repaying it and paying interest on that money, you're looking at I mean, depending on how long he pays it off.

I mean, that that that could be that $20,000 scholarship could be worth $40,000 because he doesn't have to repay that whole thing with respect to the when you add the interest on it. His parents are educators, and they wanna retire at some point. Think about that. That's $20,000 that they don't have to pull from their retirements, that they can contribute to their retirements, that they can contribute to their own future because that baby score moved from that baby score moved three points. That's the and that's transformative.

你知道，人們可以坐下來說，哦，我們只是祈禱能有個好成績之類的。這不是彩票。這又不是彩票，而且我來自AAA級聯賽。我來自一所橄欖球高中。我上的是橄欖球大學。

And, you know, the preparation, I admire, in my career. Some of my favorite students have been football players because they understand what it takes to meet a goal. They don't sit around and just pray that the Hail Mary is gonna work, which I actually did go to one of the state football games, and we did win the game by a Hail Mary pass. That's something that they practice. Oh, that's a scenario that they ran and practiced over and over and over and over again.

如果他們能在足球場上克服所有危險、風險、炎熱和不愉快的事情做到這一點，那麼你坐在教室裡學習也能做到。所以我想問你關於第三類人的問題，他們是支持你的父母，嗯。他們有錢。我認為你剛才提到的一些情況肯定適用於他們，因為我仍然認為，即使他們有錢，如果可以的話，他們也應該爭取獎學金，減少開支。嗯。

Their input, so that they can take that money and put it towards something else for the future and not just everything for the education. Do you have any other advice for people? I okay. So you're talking about the the advice for the people who can pay, the the the parents who can pay and the parents, and and they're also supportive. Yes.

So I wanted so when I I'm also a certified financial planner. And when I was studying to become a certified financial planner, I remember asking my professor to teach us more about social security. And she said oh don't worry about that Jennifer because your clients will be affluent and they aren't going to worry they're not going to be concerned about social security they're not going to be concerned about that okay Let me tell you something. Every time I have met with someone who was getting ready to retire, who made a significant who had very high who made a significant amount of money and who had a significant amount of assets already set aside in retirement. Every last one of them wanted to know about social security.

They they wanted to know. They all they all wanted to know. They all wanted to know. Even I mean, so that I mean, so so that's the thing. With people with scholarships, people parents who have the wherewithal to pay for college, they're looking for a way to save money as well.

How do you think they got all that? Yeah. No. There's nothing wrong with that. How do you think they were able to save all that money?

How do you think how do you think they were able to get all that money? And so with those parents, those parents need to, need to have really so what they should do is they should envision the kind of adult that they want to have raised by the time that, you know, that young person is, like, 25 or 30. What how do you want this student to be? Do you want this student to be an independent, productive member of society, and and happy and thriving. So then you have to think about, well, what are some things that I can do to make sure that my student that my child can can understand that through this process.

因為大學入學過程、升學過程、大學融資過程，這些過程對於培養年輕人的品格都至關重要。所以，當你認為自己是對的時，當你思考你希望那個人擁有什麼時，你也會思考，好吧，然後你也需要考慮你自己想要什麼。想想，好吧，是的，你可以支付你孩子上大學的全部費用。恭喜你。

Do you want your student to have skin in the game? So maybe you're gonna require maybe you're gonna decide, you know what? Yes. I have the ability to pay for all of this, but I would like for my student to be able to contribute something to the process as well. Maybe it's helping you know, maybe that student has to get a scholarship and keep up the scholarship, or maybe that student has to have a part time job or something to ensure that that student has skin in the game.

But with the with folks who can afford to pay for it, congratulations. And instead, before you write a check for everything, think about some creative ways to use this process to create that adult you want. Hey. 20 this the adult is 23 years old and is no longer on your health insurance. Isn't that gonna feel great?

Or That is absolutely right. Thank you. Or or this hey. Hey. This 27 year old is getting ready to buy a house and, you know, and and is and is is ready to buy a house, is is responsible, is is is starting a family, is is is married, is is is doing is is just joyous and engaged with life.

So what can you do besides writing a blank check for college to help that student get to that part? Excellent advice and ex I love the I love I love everything you just said and getting them to think differently. And, and so with that, I want to tell the audience what is Scholar Ready, and what are the services that we're doing? So Scholar Ready is a business. We have been open for twenty years, and we prepare families financially and academically for college.

We help parents to, to to really be able to prepare financially for college. So those are the different things tools you can use to pay for college, and not just five twenty nine plans, but reasonable ways to work with your budget to make sure that your student is able to get that education that he or she desires. On the academic side, we create the conditions to allow our students to have choices. So what what what what helps students have choices? Being able to read well, being able to, do math well, scoring well on PSAT, SAT, and ACT.

Another thing is writing knowing how to write an excellent essay. We create the conditions because I'm gonna tell you, there are students who I have students who choose the full rides that are offered to them, and I have students who forego the full rides and go do something else. They go take out tens of thousands of dollars in debt to go do the same thing, and and they had the same choices. So at Scholar Ready, we create the conditions to help families, so the parents and the students to have the options, and then they have to choose accordingly. We also oh, thank you.

We have the we have if you go I think you'll put it in the show notes. There's there's a link to the the the classes that I offer through Eventbrite, and we're offering classes to help students to understand how to start essays. We have seminars, how to go to college for free seminars for student athletes, for students of, first generation. So when I say first generation, I mean, maybe they the parents may have attended schools and graduated from colleges in their original countries, and they immigrated to America. And now they're having to help their kiddo make the leap from k through 12 to college.

我們為這些家庭舉辦了研討會。我們為想就讀傳統黑人學院和大學的人提供免費的大學入學講座。我們也為那些想在大學前幾年進行財務規劃的人舉辦了研討會。好的。聽起來你做了很多。

I I really love this oh my god. I want this conversation to go on longer because there's so many bits and pieces that you talked about that I feel extremely passionate about. I I love to see people succeed, and I really want to see more of our youth make the right decisions for themselves. Not the right decisions for everybody else, but for themselves. And go for the things that they think they can't get, because some of your best inventors in the world are the people that do that.

Well, thank you again, Jennifer Ledwith, for coming on today. And, for all your listeners, the the links will be in the podcast episode description. And once again, thank you, Jennifer. Thank you so much for having me on your podcast. And now for a mind shifting moment.

I wanna take a moment to encourage you if you have unsupportive parents or a parent who either actively tries to sabotage your going to college, won't help you with financial aid, even though they can, or whatever method they use to try to discourage you. The biggest way that many of them do is they try to discourage you mentally, try to make you believe that you can't or shouldn't pursue your education. You shouldn't leave home. You should stay home and help out, blah blah blah, whatever the details are. Please seek out an adult support, Whether that's someone at school, whether it's someone in your family, whether it's someone at church, your mosque, your neighborhood, your whatever.

Seek out an adult who will give you that support because I promise you, you need it. You mentally need that support. If nothing else, you need someone who's going to encourage you to go on, to keep on keeping on, and keep pursuing, and keep trying. Because if you sit there under the discouragement you're receiving at home and that's all you've got, you're likely to end up failing in what you were called to do. You're likely to end up not going pursuing your education like you should.

我只是想鼓勵你找到一個願意陪伴你、給予你支持的成年人，因為你需要我們。我們人很多，只要我們了解狀況，我們都會非常樂意幫助你、支持你，幫你提出想法，幫你聯絡任何你需要聯絡的東西。別再待在家裡，讓自己成為沮喪的牢籠。感謝收聽“Mindshift Power”播客。請按讚並訂閱我的YouTube頻道「Mind shifter」。

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