I'm Patricia Roberts and it's an honor to serve as host of College Countdown.
As both a first-gen student from a low-income family who had minimal support in my college planning process, and as a mom who recently helped see my son through his higher education journey in a more supportive way, I know first-hand how helpful ScholarShare 529’s College Countdown can be. And I am delighted to be part of something that provides thoughtful and comprehensive support to families as they navigate this important time.
A bit about my educational journey…
When I was a high school student in rural Pennsylvania, pursuing higher education felt like a distant dream. As one of four children raised by a single mom with fragile health and few resources, I was unsure of my ability to confidently focus on anything beyond the immediate needs at home. A guidance counselor even suggested that I stick with my high school waitressing job to continue to help my family, instead of pursuing a college education. Still, my mom encouraged me to go to college and I found a way to earn both an undergraduate and graduate degree while working multiple jobs and sending money home to help keep my family afloat.
What I learned through my experience of pursuing and attaining higher education may help others:
1. Your circumstances need not define or limit you.
While it’s understandable to feel constrained or discouraged by your past or current circumstances, it’s important to remember that they are one part of a much larger story you can write. No matter where my starting point was at different phases of my journey, I grew to recognize that each small step that I dared to take helped me to build confidence in my ability to turn the page and begin a new chapter.
2. Challenges can help develop tremendous strengths.
By working through a wide range of challenges, you build critical skills such as problem-solving, adaptability, resourcefulness, perseverance, and resilience. Having these priceless skills in my toolkit has served me well in just about every area of my life and has helped me to make a more significant impact than if I had had the benefit of a smoother journey.
3. There’s rarely an ideal time to begin.
When dealing with complicated circumstances, it’s easy to put your dreams on the back burner while waiting for conditions to improve before getting started. The reality is that there may never be a perfect moment. Even though I tended to wait for a “better” time to begin, I discovered that taking some action, even before I felt ready, helped me build the confidence I needed to move forward.
4. A strong “why” fuels success.
When your purpose is deeply personal, like mine was, it can become the driving force that pushes you forward and gives you the clarity and courage you need to stay focused even when the journey gets difficult. My “why” was my determination to improve the quality of my family’s life.
5. Faith and action go hand in hand.
Believing in yourself is essential to creating a spark, but consistent effort is the fuel that keeps you moving toward your dreams. My mom often reminded us that faith in ourselves and something higher is essential, but to be most impactful, faith must always be coupled with thoughtful and consistent action.
6. Higher education opens doors to opportunity.
Education can broaden your knowledge and network and can expand your career options. With greater job opportunities comes the possibility of greater earnings. The addition of both an undergraduate degree and years later, a graduate degree, helped to meaningfully improve my earnings potential.
7. Empowering yourself enables you to lift others.
When you invest in yourself and begin to grow, you can create a ripple effect that inspires and benefits those around you. Purchasing a home for my mom and brother who is developmentally disabled was a personal goal that I was able to achieve as a result of pursuing higher education. Providing a comfortable place for my loved ones to live has made me incredibly proud.
8. The next generation can benefit as well.
By empowering yourself with the many benefits of higher education, you can become better positioned to support the children in your life with their educational journeys. To help my son have a less financially stressful academic experience than I had, I began saving a little at a time directly from my paycheck into a 529 plan account soon after he was born. And after 18 years of saving, coupled with sensible decisions regarding which school to attend, I was so very proud to see him graduate debt-free from college.
9. Your experiences and education can lead to a rewarding career.
What you experience and learn along the way helps to create the unique lens through which you view the world and make your mark on it. If you can leverage your valuable perspective in a career that allows you to bring your full self to the table, you can make a tremendous impact. I am fortunate to have been able to do just that.
10. Gratitude plays an important role.
Embracing gratitude and finding bright spots in even the darkest chapters of your journey opens the door to attracting even more reasons to be thankful. I have found this to be consistently true.
This testimonial was provided by Patricia A. Roberts, J.D., the College Countdown host, for whom direct compensation was given in return. No material conflicts of interest exist on the part of the account owner(s) giving the testimonial, resulting from their relationship with TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing, Inc. Results experienced by the account owner(s) may not be representative of the experience of another/other account owner(s), and there is no guarantee of future performance or success. 4064753
