“Without This Program, I’d Be Working a Warehouse Job”
Jonathan Herrera knew from the start of high school he wanted to work in tech, but he also knew paying for college himself would be a major obstacle to that dream. The Dallas County Promise Program covered his tuition for all four years, and it changed the trajectory of his career. “I would have not […]
From Fear to Full-time: Olivia Aguilar’s Path from Cedar Valley College to a Career She Loves
For Olivia Aguilar, the hardest part of college wasn’t the coursework — it was deciding to go at all. “When I was first faced with the possibility of going to college, I was terrified. I was lost. I didn’t know which direction to turn,” she said. “I didn’t know what to do.” Aguilar carried another […]
From Student to Advisor: Ashley Larios Comes Full Circle with Dallas County Promise
Every day Ashley Larios walks into Cedar Hill High School she helps students navigate the exact path she once feared she couldn’t walk herself. As a college admissions advisor at Cedar Hill High School and Cedar Hill Collegiate High School, Ashley now guides students through the college application process: FAFSA, scholarships, career exploration, transfer planning. […]
From Lakeview Centennial to the Executive Suite: How Nicole Found Her Path
Nicole Dmitrejtschuk was not looking for someone to hand her a future. She was looking for a door. At seventeen, sitting in a senior-year class at Lakeview Centennial High School in Garland, the Venezuelan-born, first-generation college student already understood something most teenagers don’t: In this country, getting to college and paying for college are two […]
Finding Your Career Path Just Got Easier
Figuring out what you want to do after high school is a lot of pressure. Everyone’s asking, and if your honest answer is “I don’t know yet,” that’s fine. But wouldn’t it feel good to start narrowing down your options? Dallas County Promise can help. We just launched a new tool called QuickPath to Work, […]
How the Dallas County Promise Cleared the Path for Kaylah’s Marketing Career
Kaylah read the Dallas County Promise scholarship requirements in high school and immediately assumed she didn’t qualify. She had done something most students hadn’t: she earned her associate’s degree while still in high school. That was the problem—or so she thought. “I thought I was ineligible because I thought you had to graduate high school […]