Meet Martha

Martha lives in northern California and is the proud mother of a California State University at Chico journalism graduate. Her daughter is now enrolled in Chico State’s Graduate Program, teaching communication classes as part of her studies.

One of Martha’s favorite success stories is that her daughter completed undergrad–and will finish grad school—without relying on student loans. While her ScholarShare account didn’t cover everything, it was very nice to have.

Another high point has been knowing that she prepared her daughter well for life on her own. She was surprised to learn how many of her daughter’s classmates did not know how to do their own laundry! Martha admits to being ‘so in her business in high school, but when it came time for college, she knew how to handle herself’.

Martha has also been proud to watch her daughter grow into a passionate, award-winning journalist. Her daughter was Editor-in-Chief of Chico State’s independent newspaper The Orion in 2018 when the paper was named California’s Best College Newspaper by the California College Media Association. Since then she has worked with Sacramento-based Capitol Public Radio and on the ‘Since You Asked’ series for North State Public Radio an NPR affiliate in Chico.

When asked for her ‘I wish I knew then what I know now’ moment, Martha laughs and suggests that parents invest in a good laptop. “You get what you pay for! My daughter struggled to connect to the busy dorm Wi-Fi on her old laptop, it would shut down and she lost a lot of time getting it fixed”.

Martha also wishes she knew about renting—rather than purchasing—college textbooks early on. Given the choice to buy a text for $500 or rent it for a semester at a cost of $100, she found the choice clear, her only regret is not knowing this option in freshman year.

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Use the form below to send a message to Martha with any questions or comments you have about preparing for college or her experience.