Gretchen
Edgewood College in Madison for a degree in business education
“These were big decisions for me and my advisor knew exactly what facts I needed to help me figure it out on my own.”
Gretchen first came to the Future Center at Central simply because she was curious about what went on there. She attended a writing workshop her sophomore year and thought Ms. Moe was really “cool.” Gretchen now has a solid plan in place for college and for her future and she credits Advisor Hayley Moe for the motivation she needed to get this far.
“Ms. Moe has been such a good support system for me both for my education and personally. I knew I wanted to be a teacher because of so many great business teachers I have had here at Central. Ms. Moe and the Future Center helped me by looking for scholarships, setting up job shadows, explain my college options – just what I needed to get me going for my goal to become a teacher.” When she struggled with indecision, Gretchen said that Ms. Moe really was a strong influence in helping her keep focused.
I think the biggest challenge for me personally was deciding what school I wanted to go to and basically what I want to do with my life – and to deal with all the finances. I am a little nervous about paying for college myself.”
One of the hardest decisions Gretchen had to make was which school to go to. Should she go to a private school? Should she go far away from family? She applied to both Winona State and Edgewood College. “I chose Edgewood because it was a better financial decision for me and because Ms. Moe pointed out that Winona State did not have the double major I was looking for. These were such big decisions for me and she knew exactly what facts I needed to help me figure it out on my own.”
College is really important to Gretchen because she believes people should continue education because they can learn more than they can in high school, middle school or elementary. On a personal level, she wants to experience life out of her comfort zone and live away her hometown. She knew it would be challenging but she was looking forward to finding out for herself what that meant.
Gretchen said that especially during her senior year, she was really “stressing out” and Ms. Moe was a good personal advisor to her.
“When I feel like I am being irrational, she talks me through the problems. She set up different job shadows when she saw that I was starting to doubt what I wanted to do. She showed me how to weigh the pros and cons of each school and also how to handle the financial commitment because that was really confusing for me.”
Gretchen is a proud employee of KwikTrip and has been able to save a lot of wages for college and she said she was glad KwikTrip paid her more than minimum wage. Still, doubt settled in the closer she got to graduation and to making all of those important final plans.
“I was thinking that I shouldn’t be going to a private school in Madison because that’s too far from my family and I wouldn’t have any friends. Ms. Moe said that’s not the case – because she said I will have new friends and be living in the dorms and have a great support system there. We also talked about the grace period to pay back the loans and that made me feel a little more confident.”
Already thinking like an educator, Gretchen said it would be a cool opportunity to start a club of students to be involved in for the Future Center to help promote events and opportunities the Future Center provides.
“I hope students will not be afraid to approach the Future Center advisors for help because they are so willing to get to know each student more as a student and person in order to help them with anything they can.”