Mentor Helps Mentee Choose the Right College

Mentor of the Month

When graduating senior Jeremiah received a number of college acceptance letters this spring, he wasn't sure which way to go—so he turned to his mentor, Jose Morales, for advice. The pair had worked hard together to track down funding opportunities for Jeremiah's college degree.

“I didn’t know about the financial part of applying to school—that was something new to me,” said Jeremiah, who walked across the stage last month to receive his high school diploma from Urban Assembly School for Careers in Sports. “My mentor motivated me and told me not to lose focus.”

The teen decided to attend Long Island University (LIU) through a state-funded program that offers educational support and financial assistance to students who qualify at select independent colleges. At LIU, the program covers the full cost of tuition and fees for all four years.

Jeremiah’s college decision came down to the financial aid package from LIU and one from another school that would have required a $24,000 a year loan.

“He had to grapple with not just the fact that he had some options but also how to pick the best balance between all of his options,” said Morales, who heard about the opportunity to become a mentor through his employer Morgan Stanley’s corporate partnership with iMentor. The mentor’s dedication earned him the title of “Mentor of the Month” for July—a designation we reserve for particularly notable mentors. 

“I helped him lay out the facts in an organized fashion so he could make a decision and own that decision at the end of the day,” said Morales.

Jeremiah is interested in several potential career paths and excited about the opportunity to investigate each when he arrives at school. “I’m actually very good at calculus so I might major in civil engineering,” he said. “But I also think about a more creative route, like journalism.”

Morales is beaming with pride and thinks Jeremiah’s initiative will take him far. “He took advantage of the resources available to him and I was impressed by that,” said Morales. “He’ll face struggles and grow along the way, like we all do, and find himself through it.”