Keith Burton's TRiO SSS Success Story

Name: Keith Burton
Semester/Year Started at WCC: Fall 2011

Semester/Year Started in TRiO SSS: Fall 2011 

Degree(s) Earned at WCC or 4yr. college/university:

Semester(s)/Year(s) Graduated:

My name is Keith Burton. This is currently my fourth semester as a member of TRIO and as a student at Windward Community College. I hold a 4.0 GPA and I am a member of Phi Thetta Kappa Honor Society. I wasn’t always a straight “A” student – far from it. After graduating from Roosevelt high school in 2001, with a lousy GPA of 1.8, I enrolled myself at Kapiolani Community College. While at KCC, I didn’t succeed at anything. For one thing I wasn’t focused. Another reason for my failure was a lack of guidance at KCC. They didn’t have a TRIO program, or at least I didn’t know about it. Even if there was, I highly doubt their program would have been as unique and helpful as WCC’s TRIO. After being put on academic probation, I dropped out of KCC. I simply gave up.

After failing at my first attempt at Higher Education, my life began to quickly plummet downhill. All I wanted to do was party and have fun. One thing led to another, and before I knew it I became an addict. These were the dark times of my life. I not only ended up hurting my own well being, but my closest friends, and worst of all, my parents. After realizing I had a problem, my parents gave me two choices - move out, or go into rehab. I chose the latter. After a brief stay at Hina Mauka, I was a little stronger but began using after one week. But this time around, it was different. The guilt was eating me up. I knew I had to change. I managed to find a full-time job and after two years of working seven day weeks, life began to get back on track. Due to my slave labor job, and my parents love, I was able to stay clean. I decided to give college one last shot.

Attending WCC is a new beginning for me, and TRIO has made this beginning possible. I have benefited greatly from the student tutors, and the director of TRIO sss, who is also my councelor. I know I can always go to TRIO for a place to study, receive tutoring, and guidance. TRIO at WCC is truly a unique place.  Every one here sincerely cares about you and wants to see you succeed. I have made it my duty to not let TRIO down. If there were no TRIO, it would be easy for me to throw in the towel and give up once again. I will soon be transfering to UH Manoa to pursue my goal of becoming a school counselor. When I do move on to Manoa, TRIO will always hold a place in my heart. I hope that TRIO will be at WCC for years to come, and continue to help students succeed in college and life.