In an instant—everything changed.
It was at the coffee shop around the corner, talking to my mentor, when it dawned on me. This wasn’t an option, it was a calling. An unshakable feeling down to the very last cell in my body that I had to share my passion and talent of mentoring young adults, college admissions and finding scholarships with the world. I had no idea, in that moment, that my life would change forever. Or even more shockingly, just how much it would change…
My youngest was just finishing 7th grade when I became a single mom. After 26 years of marriage, I never saw this one coming. With 1 of my kids in medical school, 1 already in college and 2 more that would be going soon, finding scholarships became even more urgent. One could argue that this wasn’t the best time for me to take on the task of building a business to help others when I needed so much help myself.
While doing hours and hours of research on scholarships for my kids, I came across so many scholarships that would work for someone like me, a middle aged mom. It was during this time I decided to go back to college to finish my degree so that I could learn all I needed to build a business and provide for myself as a now single mom. I loved working with students but I stayed home with my kids for many years so my resume was looking a bit bare. Somehow, one of the hardest jobs in the world (being an at home mom) isn’t valued highly on a resume. I didn’t know where to start but knew that I couldn’t miss this opportunity of found scholarships and new information that could help me finally finish my college degree.
In addition, I would be a first generation college student. This meant that I would be the first in my family to graduate from college, assuming I could accomplish that goal. It also meant that this passion was burning deeper inside of me from my own personal experience of the difference an education would make not only for me but for my kids, and for generations to come. While graduating from college is a lofty goal at any age, it was even more so for my 50 year old self who had no financial resources to accomplish this goal.
I started college as a freshman, many years previous ( in the 80s. ) I soaked it up. I loved every part of college. The dorm, my friends, my classes and the whole experience. I can still remember my Interpersonal Communications class my first semester of college. It was life changing. My professor was Dr. Jim Towns and my textbook was written by the one and only Zig Ziglar. I could barely consume the material fast enough. The name of that book was See You At The Top. I made a decision that semester. No matter how long it took, no matter what obstacles had to be conquered, I would be the first person to graduate from college in my family. I went to school and then would take off a semester to work. Fast forward 30+ years and it seemed even more unlikely that I could finally make this dream a reality.
I did it.
I eventually did obtain that college degree, a Bachelors Degree in Communications with a minor in Business. While I’m very grateful for the opportunity to have done so, the lessons I learned along the way contributed equally to the person I am and the knowledge I have today.
As an entrepreneur, I look for needs of people and then find solutions to those needs. I build businesses and build solutions. That is how my first company, Imagine Scholarships was born. Almost two decades ago, I began mentoring students through the college admissions process. I loved cheering on the student each step of the way through choosing a college, finding a perfect fit major, applications and essays. Each step of the process was invigorating and being a part of the journey with students and families was the most rewarding work. I always knew I wanted to help others and I wanted to write. (I love combining my love for education with my love for helping students get an education.) I try to keep things fun and relevant all while offering a fresh perspective of what is happening in the world of education. I’m now proudly getting the opportunity to do both.
You might wonder what held me back for so long? Why did I wait three decades to go back and finish my degree? A lot of it was financial. I didn’t want to take needed resources away from my family to focus on myself and my education. However, the largest answer is shame. I felt shame that I never finished something that I was so passionate about with my own kids and the students I worked with. Shame is never a good thing. I love Brene’ Brown’s definition of shame –Shame is the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love, belonging, and connection. Up until this point, I had prioritized everyone but myself. The tides were turning.
I believe everyone has a bright future ahead. It doesn’t matter where you are starting from. I’m living proof. If you are in high school, a current college student, an adult learner, a parent or if you’ve chosen to take a gap year or have a career that doesn’t require college at all, you are valuable. Each person has unique gifts and talents they can use to change the world, to make the world a better place for us all. It takes each of us to bring about the best future for us all. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
During my consulting years, I worked with some of the most amazing families on the planet. Imagine , grew and was able to help many with the college admissions process and help students find thousands of dollars for education. You can see some testimonies from students and families here. In fact, as my expertise grew, I was able to work with students on three continents. Working with students in Africa was a life changing experience for sure. I visited universities and boarding schools across the nation and made the most amazing connections. While this was the best part of my entrepreneur efforts, I had this nagging feeling that I could do more. I could help more students, more parents and the health of our educational institutions all at the same time.
While helping families with college admissions, financial aid and finding scholarship dollars for over a decade I suddenly realized the urgency on a more personal level. Changes were happening in my personal life, these changes would be the catapult for changes in my business as well. I knew that I had to to reach more families. Even families who aren’t facing financial difficulty appreciate scholarships and money for education. Contrary to popular belief, there are scholarships for everyone. Some of the wealthiest families I work with receive the most scholarship dollars and those who have monetary needs have excellent opportunities for scholarships and financial aid. It is a win for everyone.
Through my efforts to see each motivated student attend college debt free, the Imagine Scholarships platform was born. This would finally allow me to share my scholarship secret sauce with many more people. At that time, I had no idea just how many people that would be but I did know I was giving it all I had. I wanted each student to have a chance to attend college, regardless of cost. Shortly after that, Scholarship Mom, a non-profit for students and families needing financial assistance was created. Perhaps the greatest impact was made by partnering with my first D1 university to help college students on campus as well as offer support for retaining current students and recruiting new students on college campuses. We continued to grow from there.
Today, Imagine helps students across the globe. We work with Trio and Gear Up Programs serving first generation and low income students. We help students, parents and schools find educational dollars while empowering them with every tool they need for success in school and in life. When I look at the fact that over $46 billion dollars was given away each year, I’m determined that some of that money will go to helping my students and my own children get their education.
When building Imagine Scholarships, I wanted to make sure it was affordable to everyone. It was important to me to make sure everyone could have access. My goal was for families to be able to access millions of dollars of scholarships for an affordable price. I accomplished this goal. Imagine Scholarships is $175.00 per year for the possibility of students gaining thousands of dollars for the return on their investment. In fact, our database has over $9 Billion Dollars in scholarships and is updated frequently to help students find the money they need for college. Because I always want to offer the best to my students and the universities I work with, I’ve recently added a video library to help students win the scholarships they apply for and I’ve also added hundreds of internships to help them get the experience and opportunities to be most successful. I kept adding and built a career library helping student shadow professionals through interviews.
In addition to Imagine Scholarships, I frequently post about scholarships and financial aid on my blog. I hope that this resource is something you find valuable and that you and your family can join hundreds of my other students and families in finding scholarships today! If I can do it, I know you can too! Ready to get started? Sign up here for Imagine Scholarships and here for blog updates. You’ll be glad you did.
As I mentioned earlier, my kids were just starting the college admissions process when I built Imagine. Fast forward to today, three of my kids have graduated from college and one is currently a college Junior at Texas A&M. Watching my kids go through all of the stages of life has been the most rewarding part of my life. My son was determined to be a physician and finally accomplished that goal after many years of hard work. I’m so very proud of him. One of my daughters (who didn’t like college at all) graduated with her Bachelors degree and now works for a software company, another daughter graduated from college and is an environmental scientist and loves her work. The youngest of the bunch is just starting her Junior year at Texas A&M. She will graduate soon.
To say I’m proud of my kids would be an understatement. To make things even more interesting, I recently got married and now have 3 amazing bonus kids who are a delight. The oldest graduated from college and now enjoys working on movie sets, the middle one gets to work in a lab on viruses and the youngest will be a college Junior this fall.
I’m grateful for each step of this journey I’ve been on and look forward to hearing your journey and adventures as well.
Thanks for letting me share my story with you! I’d love to hear your story. Contact me here, anytime! I’ll look forward to hearing from you!
Warmly,
Sherri