Frank's Story

It was the first week of April. Four of my students had applied to USC and three had been admitted. But the one I was most concerned about still hadn't received a decision.

I usually start working with students during freshman, sophomore or junior year, so it was unusual to take on a senior, especially in January. But Frank is an unusual guy. When Marlene, a colleague who works at Van Nuys High School, told me about this bright and courageous young man, I knew we needed to act quickly.

Frank was born in Uganda. The transcript from his high school in Entebbe is filled with top grades in chemistry, history, English and many other subjects. He had a promising future.

But in his personal statement, Frank describes how in 2002, his father was assassinated because he was a member of the opposition Democratic Party. The government then hunted the family. Frank was forced to hide in a village with his six brothers and sisters and grandmother. His mother was able to escape to the U.S., and after she received political asylum in 2004, the family was reunited here.

Frank has done very well in school. He loves economics, history and computers, and has shown a great aptitude for math, taking advanced placement calculus. He's worked to help support the family, and tries hard to set a good example for his brothers and sisters.

While he is a bit reserved, Frank can also be playful, and he laughs easily, especially at my pitiful computer skills. His resilience and good humor have made him a favorite of teachers and staff at school.

As he said in his personal statement, "when you live in a place where you regularly see people get killed, you become not afraid to die, yet you value life and are ready to face any situation."

There wasn't much time. Some college application deadlines had already passed and others were rapidly approaching. Frank wants to study business, and USC, which has a lot of students from around the world, seemed like it might be a good fit. Marlene was in touch with an admissions officer at USC and I started working on other possibilities.

A number of schools agreed to accept a late application. I found a sympathetic official at the College Board who registered Frank for the January SAT, even though it was only about a week before the test date. Next, I lined up some last-minute SAT tutoring, and Frank was so eager to learn, the math tutor ran out of sample problems.

After the applications were completed, there was nothing to do but wait. I'm always rooting for my students to do well, but with Frank, it felt like there was so much at stake. Getting admitted was only half the battle, since he would need a full financial aid package.

Finally, one morning, the phone rang. Marlene said that Frank had something to tell me. "Hello, Frank." "Hi, Miss." "You have news for me?"

"Maybe."

"April Fool's Day is over, Frank. No teasing allowed. You have to tell me."

"I got into USC."

Not only did he get into USC, he got a financial aid package that included substantial grants. But my joy was tempered by the knowledge that even with several loans, the package came up $1,200 short of the estimated cost of attendance. I really didn't want to see him take on another loan, which would saddle him with even more debt at graduation, but where would the money come from?

Last Thursday night at Van Nuys High School, I sat next to Frank at the senior awards ceremony. He received a $1,000 ACE Hardware scholarship, renewable for all four years. Don't you just love happy endings?

Audrey Kahane, MS, is a pri- vate college admissions counse- lor in West Hills. She can be reached at (818) 704-7545 or via audreykahane@earthlink.net