Young People Turn Their Dreams into Real Possibilities

Moua, Ibrahim, and Flynn are recent success stories of Admission Possible, a nonprofit organization based in St. Paul, Minnesota, that makes college admission a reality for low-income students. Now in its seventh year, the organization is currently helping nearly 1,000 juniors and seniors at 13 high schools in the Twin Cities prepare for the ACT and pursue higher education.

Without Admission Possible, Moua might not have gone to college. “My parents are very traditional, and it was challenging for me to get their approval to attend a private institution,” she said. “But because my coach, Chauyi Thao, is also Hmong, she was able to help my parents understand why St. Olaf College was a great option for me.”

Thao helped Moua prepare for the ACT with practice tests. Together, they also visited colleges, brainstormed ideas for college application essays, and completed financial aid forms.

Admission Possible opened the door to college for Moua. In the spring of 2006, she graduated cum laude from St. Olaf with a BA in sociology/ anthropology and concentrations in management and Asian studies. During her college years, Moua studied in China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Tanzania. She was also active on campus, serving as a mentor for at-risk youth and first-generation college students and as a teacher of Hmong language and culture. She also interned for Target Corporation, where she is currently employed full time in human resources. She plans to study public policy at graduate school in the fall.

Admission Possible taught Moua to give back to those who helped her and, for that reason, she now serves on the Admission Possible Board of Directors.

“For me, Admission Possible is about more than making college possible. The program helped grow me into a person who is no longer afraid of personal obstacles,” said Moua. “Admission Possible has groomed me to see that dreams are possible.”

Ibrahim shares a similar story. She didn’t think she’d attend college because of her family’s income. “Admission Possible taught me that it is possible to go to college no matter what your family situation,” she said.

Her coach, Heather McKerrow, works with her on ACT preparation and accompanies her on college visits. Ibrahim participates in community service, a mandatory component of the Admission Possible program, by volunteering in the intensive care unit at a local hospital. She plans to attend the University of Minnesota and major in education and nursing.

Helping students reach their dreams is Flynn’s goal. She is an Admission Possible senior coach—an AmeriCorps member who works directly with high school students.

She first heard about Admission Possible while working in the admissions office at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, where she graduated in 2005 with a degree in theatre arts. After the first time Admission Possible students visited the Augsburg campus, Flynn was hooked. “Seeing the students’ excitement inspired me to work with Admission Possible after college. I wanted not simply to have opinions about education and public policy; I wanted to take action.”

And so she did. Admission Possible hired her for the 2005–06 school year as a workshop and volunteer associate. In this position, Flynn arranged service opportunities for students and trained high school seniors to lead college readiness workshops in ninth-grade and tenth-grade classrooms.

This year, Flynn is working with 34 high school seniors at North Community High School in Minneapolis. She meets with them after school to work on the college application process. Her experiences mentoring high school students have helped her shift her own plans. She now hopes to work as a teaching artist in urban school districts and juvenile correction facilities.

Her work with Admission Possible has prepared her well.

“I have had the opportunity to share in my students’ ‘ah-ha’ moments of realization when their immense hard work—through two years of intensive ACT prep, college research, application essay writing, and more—begins to pay off and colleges recognize their incredible accomplishments despite family tragedies and personal obstacles,” said Flynn. “My work with Admission Possible is quite possibly the most important work I will ever do.”