Dawn Merly and Tawni Chase' TRiO SSS Success Story

Dawn and Tawni's TRiO Success Story!

            My daughter Tawni and I, Dawn are both students here at Windward Community College. Being a low income single mother from a family where no one is college educated, I always lacked direction and purpose in my life. Coming from a dysfunctional family life of which abuse, alcoholism and addiction are prevalent, I got sober nearly 8 years ago when my daughter was 17. We may have had a troubled beginning but since then Tawni and I have both found meaning and purpose in our lives through higher education!

            I was laid off in 2010 after 5 years of working a job in construction and felt like I hit another dead end. I regretted not getting a degree when I was younger and despite all the fear and uncertainty swirling about me I enrolled in classes and was attending WCC within the month! Shortly after, inspired by my positive experience, my daughter decided to take a step back from her hairstyling career and give higher education a shot as well! 

I found TRiO my first semester at WCC and thank God everyday for the help they have offered me and my daughter! I couldn't have faced the many challenges of getting an education without them.

I really struggled with math but, with the tutoring and the summer math classes I’ve received through TRiO I am now successfully finishing up my last math requirement.

            TRiO has truly been our biggest supporter here on campus for everything from access to computers, printing, keeping us fed and giving us an awesome place to study and find help. The staff has been really wonderful mentors to us, helping us with FAFSA, filing taxes, scholarship applications and even guidance and career counseling. They have even been a wonderful emotional support at times to and have

definitely helped boost our confidence by preparing us to transfer to other 4 year campuses.

            Today Tawni and I are both honor roll students, and with the help of TRiO I am now in my 6th semester as a Psychology major and have the self-confidence I need achieve my goals! My beautiful daughter is also in her 5th semester as a Mechanical Engineering major and TRiO's guidance is helping her reach her goals too! We are both so thankful for the help we have received and are excited about what the future hold for us as mother and daughter! 

UPDATE as of Spring 2016 

Dawn graduated with her AA in Liberal Arts at the end of the Fall 2013 semester and is currently attending the University of Hawaii at West Oahu majoring in psychology.

 

Tawni graduated with her AA in Liberal Arts at the end of the the Spring 2015 semester and is currently attending the University of Hawaii at Manoa majoring in civil engineering.