Grace Jones: Full Ride to Vanderbilt

Hi, this is Shellee Howard, and I have the wonderful opportunity to speak with one of my past students, Miss Grace Jones. Welcome. Thank you.

So excited to be here.

Absolutely. So I appreciate you being on this podcast. I know we've had other conversations, but because you have two siblings who are right behind you, I think we can talk a little bit about maybe how to help students as they're preparing for the college plan. But before we do, can you give our listeners a glimpse of who are you?

Absolutely. So I was part of College Ready from 9th through 12th grade, but currently I am a freshman at Vanderbilt University. I'm a part of the Ingram Scholars Program here, which is a service-related program. It also provides full tuition support, which is really useful. So, um, that's something that I've really enjoyed coming from, going all the way through College Ready. And now I'm at Vanderbilt. Um, my family's initially from South Africa, so I've kind of got a whole range of backgrounds there, but, um, currently going through the school year, ending school like most high schoolers right now as well.

Outstanding. So you, you kind of brushed by that very quickly. I'm going to dive a little bit deeper so our listeners can understand, like, you've truly been through the process. Let's Let's start with how many colleges did you apply to?

I think I applied to 16 colleges.

Okay, out of those 16, what were your final 2?

I was deciding between Vanderbilt and Notre Dame.

And how— this is where we're at right now. All these high schoolers are like, May 1st is right around the corner, how do I decide? What could you help those listeners with how you went through that process to finally get to your final decision.

Yes, it was definitely a difficult decision. Um, I did have the opportunity to visit both, which I thought was really huge, being able to talk to a bunch of students, whether it was in person when I went or just online texting people who currently went there, reaching out to current students, kind of hearing from them what it was really like. Um, and one of the things I've learned now is I've heard it before, but it's really about the people there. Like what's made my college experience has 100% just been the people here at Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt. So that was definitely something that I considered was the social fit, where, where would I fit in, but also the financial fit. As I said, I'm a part of the Ingram Scholars Program here, so just knowing that finances really wouldn't be a big issue if I went to Vanderbilt, that was definitely something I had to weigh against going to Notre Dame. And also just looking more into what I want to do academically, which school would be better for that. Overall, I think it was mainly just talking to people there, talking to students, and ultimately just writing down the pros and cons of each and going through it and thinking, where would I see myself 4 years from now in each of these schools?

I love that. That's exactly what I would recommend. So how brilliant you are. So, you know, as students are, are listening and you're talking about this Ingram program, can you maybe, how did you find it? How did you apply for it? How did it all come together? Because the financial factor and return on investment was important. And I have a lot of families who are like, yeah, that's important, but they just don't know what to do. I mean, maybe we can take a step back. Do you remember how much money you received from all of your scholarships as we went through?

I think I added it up at one point and it was close to or possibly reached over 1 million.

Woo-hoo! Right? And then they're going to want to know, okay, what was your GPA and what was your test score?

I honestly could not tell you at this point. I think I had a high 4.8 or 9. I honestly don't know. And I did get a 36 on the ACT.

Outstanding. So you did the hard work. It's not like somebody just tapped on your door and said, hey Grace, would you like a million dollars in scholarships?

No.

How do you, or why do you think you were so successful in getting all of that scholarship money?

I think it was kind of a combination of just bringing a unique perspective of, I didn't exactly follow the traditional high school path of what you would expect every high schooler to do, and just bringing something unique and also kind kind of knowing where I stood, where I wanted to pursue, even though I didn't know the exact field, I knew what I was passionate about and passionate about helping people. And that was something that especially tied into the Ingram Scholars Program.

Yeah. So now maybe you can touch on what is the Ingram Scholars Program?

So there's so many components to it, it's really hard to summarize shortly, but the main component is focusing on civic engagement and being really involved in our communities. So it's a very small program. There are currently only 7 scholars in my freshman class, about 30 total out of Vanderbilt University. Um, and so we have weekly engagements together, weekly programming, as well as, um, we do at least 16 hours of service a month somewhere involved in our community. So I'm currently partnered with 2 organizations in Nashville. One is called Preston Taylor Ministries, where I'm working at an after-school program. They do different— I build their Christian curriculum, kind of different chapel programs. As well as just engaging with the students there. Um, and then the other organization I'm working with right now is called Next Steps at Vanderbilt. So the ambassadors program is working with students with intellectual disabilities who are actually students at Vanderbilt and helping them keep up with their classwork, be involved on campus, things like that. So those are just some of the things. There are tons of other perks of the Ingram Scholars Program. We've gone— John Ingram, who's part of the family that benefits us, is— he owns the soccer team in Nashville. So we got a suite at one of the soccer games. We've went to Martha Ingram's house the other night and got this really fancy dinner. She had a private concert for us, like so many events I could talk about for hours, but it's been a really incredible experience so far.

Oh, that just gives me chills because I remember the freshman you. Let's just step back a little bit. And I remember the first time your parents met me and they say, well, we don't know what to do with her, so she's all yours. And I remember going, I don't know if that's a good thing or should I be scared? And what they were saying is, we went to college in South Africa, right? And we don't know your system here in the US, but they truly entrusted you to me, which was a huge honor. But I remember the first time we had a conversation and I said, so what do you think you want to do? You want to be— what are you passionate about? And you kind of shrugged. It was like, I don't know. And we worked together, and I still think there's so many things you could do and so much potential. And I call it a quality problem, right? Because it's just not one thing. So as you think about what was that one thing, if you had to— I mean, there's never one, but that thing that set you apart from others in the application process?

That's a little bit of a joint combination, I would say. I would think one of the things was definitely the passion projects. I think overall that would be the number one thing I would say for sure was just, those were things that I was really passionate about and those were things I really wanted to be involved with. And because of that, those went the furthest in what I did throughout high school. Um, and also just, I did gymnastics for over 10 years. And so I think bringing a unique perspective, there aren't, I There's not a ton of people who do that sport for that long. So bringing that combined with balancing it with academics, obviously, as well as the passion projects, which I think those three parts coming together were what really made me stand out.

I love that. So now, are you still a gymnast?

Yes, I am actually still doing a little bit here. I did start rock climbing, so that's been fun. But I'm actually right now looking into starting a gymnastics club here at Vanderbilt. So that's hopefully gonna come to fruition soon.

Outstanding. So because they didn't have it there for you just to step into, you just decided to lead it.

Yep. It's not there yet, but I'm definitely looking into it and I'm really hoping to actually make it come to life here.

Outstanding. So it sounds as though following your passion has led you to the perfect scholarships to the perfect college match to a full-ride scholarship at college. Yes, Vanderbilt at that. Outstanding. So one year, you've almost put one year of college. What would you tell students in high school about why college is better, worse, or different?

I would say the biggest difference has definitely just been the flexibility in creating your own schedule. Classes really aren't that long. It's— for us, it's about 3 50-minute classes a week or 2 75-minute classes a week. So you compare that to high school, and you're really not in class for that long each day. But the amount of work that you put in outside of class and taking the initiative to go to professors' office hours or to do that extra studying that you need to do kind of lets you design your own schedule, but it also you really have to be proactive about setting your schedule up and making sure you organize everything well in advance.

Absolutely. So getting good at those skills early on is definitely the key to success. Now, from my— that's an academic place. What about a social place? What's the difference?

I would just say there are so many unique people here. And one of the things I really like about the size of Vanderbilt is it's big enough to where I can find a lot of different people. And I've met people from all over the globe. Some of my closest friends are from Russia and South Korea and literally everywhere. But being able to see familiar faces all over campus is really something I've enjoyed. So one of the things I've taken out of that is just joining organizations that I really want to be a part of, not just, oh, this would look great on my resume, what I actually want to get involved with. So as I mentioned earlier, the rock climbing team was one of the clubs that I joined. And we were able to go on all these outdoor trips, go to Knoxville for the weekend for competition. And it's just been a great way to meet people outside of academics, even though classes are another great way to meet a bunch of different people.

I love that. And the Ingram Program, you've said, has been really helpful for that. Now, every student wants to know, how about the roommate situation? Like, how do you— how'd you pick her? And What's it like to live with somebody you've never met before?

Yes, I was very apprehensive. You'll probably remember me ranting all about this, but I was very nervous about living with a roommate. Um, but it has definitely turned out to be one of my highlights of being here. We were just talking about this the other day with my roommate about how I really would not want to live by myself my freshman year or even moving forward, and it's been really great just having someone here. So I initially met her We had the opportunity of either going completely random, just filling out like a form of our interests, or we could select somebody in advance. So I didn't know her, but Vanderbilt had put together this Google Slides presentation where people could just make a slide about yourself, get to know each other. I found her on there, set up an Instagram account so I could reach out to her, and then we connected, just had a quick Zoom, talked to each other, ended up really liking each other and sent the form in. Since then, it's worked really well. We just— one of the things we did here was we were required to submit a roommate contract, basically just laying out these are our common understandings, this is what we're going to be doing. And it kind of helped having that upfront, just having those discussions. And then the rest of the year honestly has gone so smoothly.

I love that because that was a big fear for you. It was one of those things like, I don't know, I maybe should be by myself. I'm like, no, no, no, you should not be by yourself. I love that. So as you look forward now, um, you are currently in charge of CR Tutoring and Test Strategies. Can you tell me a little bit about your role there and what is it?

Yes, so I'm an intern at Sierra Tutoring and Test Strategies, and it's a company really focused on providing tutoring for all subject areas at all levels. So we have 3 different tiers of tutors, whether you just want the standard tutor, who's someone who's usually a high school student or recent high school graduate, advanced tutor, all the way up to professional tutors. So really, if you need a tutor, we've got different levels, different price points, whatever can better fit your needs. And then the 3 key areas that Sierra Tutoring and Test Strategies provide services in are AP or academic tutoring, as well as SAT and ACT test prep, and then essay writing, especially for those college application essays.

Oh yes. Do you know how many essays you had to write your senior year?

I don't even want to count. Probably a couple hundred.

So any of you listening out there that heard her say a couple hundred, she's not joking. She really went after every opportunity. And, you know, was it easy to get those scholarships? Like, what did you have to do?

Yeah, those— there were definitely some times I was like, do I really need to be applying to this additional school, going through this many extra essays? And even outside scholarships, when I would see the percentage acceptance rate be close to nothing, I was like, is there really a point to this? But it really ended up working out, and I'm so grateful that I did, just to have those opportunities laid out in front of me and being able to decide between them and also have the funding to be not worried about the financial repercussions after college was really something. It— though it takes a lot of work up front, it was really worth it.

I couldn't have said it any better, so thank you. We start talking about the return on investment for college very early on. Did you find that helpful going into the application process? When you're trying to figure out your last two, one was a full offer and one was less. Did that play into it for you?

It absolutely did. I ended up weighing between outside scholarships and the scholarships at the university, how much would it end up costing me and what kind of education would I get for that cost. And once I ultimately looked at it, it was really comparing how much debt I would want to take on versus a college experience, which would be equal if not better, as well as all the opportunities that came with having that financial freedom, even looking towards grad school, just knowing I wouldn't have to be weighed down by these former debts. Just having this return on investment was huge for me.

Outstanding. I love that. So as we think about you moving forward, the Grace going forward, what was your favorite class you took this year? And are you getting any closer to deciding what that what your next step will be.

I'm hoping so, but one of the classes I took, which was really cool, and I think one of the most unique classes I've taken was called— it was a business course. It's called Managing in Adversity, and it ended up having so many— we basically every day had a different speaker come in, guest speaker. So we had the CEO of American Airlines, the CEO of Bank of America, like all of these top executives come and just speak on their experiences and how they were able to manage, obviously going through a lot a lot of adversity in those positions. It was a very small class, so I really got to interact with these professionals and ask them questions, see what their insights were. And I think regardless of what field I go into, there's so many things that I can take away from that experience. And looking forward towards career-wise, I'm getting a little closer. I've always kind of been not sure what I want to do. The position I have set up for the summer, I'm really hoping that's kind of the line of work I would want to do. It's a small business looking at the applications of chemistry and seeing how it can impact society. So I'm really looking forward to that and hoping that is something I'm still passionate about after the summer. But if not, then I'll consider realigning where I'm moving, moving forward.

Outstanding. And when you ultimately having this internship, does it remind you of maybe the internships that you've utilized in the past? Can you speak to the UCI internship and how you got that? A lot of students feel frustrated or stuck because there's no like hit the button, here's an internship or research project. So from somebody who did it like from scratch, can you speak to what that was like?

Yes, these actually ended up being almost exactly the same and how I got the position. I just cold emailed a bunch of professors in order to get that UC Irvine research position. There was no set formula. I didn't have any kind of example that I was going off of. I basically just drafted an email and went through UCI's directory of professors and tagged everyone that was doing research that I thought looked interesting and then personalized the email to each one. Probably sent at least 70 or 80 emails and ended up hearing back from 2 or 3 of them, which I thought was amazing at the time. I was like, wow, I'm getting these opportunities just from emailing. But that's basically how it went, was I heard back from one of them. They offered to have me come in and learn a little bit more about the research that they were doing in hearing and speech. And I kind of got involved from there. They were really helpful in just kind of getting used to a university setting. What does this look like? And even though it's not the exact research that I'm doing anymore, it's really something that showed me what does this look like in a more formal setting that I never would have seen. And for the summer, it was very similar. I tried applying to a bunch of formal application processes this position ended up coming through cold email. I found their company online. I just sent them a message. Um, afterwards I realized that both of them were Vanderbilt graduates. So I just tagged that in and said, great to hear other Vanderbilt graduates. Um, and that's how the position went. Wow.

So what you're saying is the same tactics you used in high school, you used recently.

Yes, very recently.

Brilliant. I love that. Well, as you look forward and you have two siblings coming right behind you, what would be the, the piece of wisdom that you would share with them or with any other student who is just either starting out or finishing up their senior year?

I would say don't be afraid to just try things and start them on your own, kind of like what I was just talking about. I really was not getting my opportunities and my biggest engagements from things that I was doing a formal application process. And while those are incredible opportunities, I think it's really empowering just knowing you can create these opportunities on your own. You can set them up, you can pursue what you're passionate about and passion projects. It's kind of discovering what you're passionate about and just taking the initiative to try that on your own instead of feeling held back by not getting an official position through something else. That was probably one of my biggest takeaways. And even bringing that forward into college, it's been huge in how I think about what opportunities I have lying ahead.

Brilliant. So if a student needed help with AP testing, test strategy and/or tutoring, what would be the best way for them to reach out to you?

So on the CRTutoring website, which is just CRTutoring.com, there's an enroll now form. It's really simple information, basically just your information and parents' information, and we'll get you all set up with the best match tutor, finding the best match for you, what the best plan would be, and building that strategy out. It's really simple, really quick, probably takes about 1 minute, and you're all set up from there.

Outstanding. Well, thank you so much, Grace. It has been my honor and pleasure to mentor you through this program.

Absolutely. Thank you so much for all of your help throughout this, and I was so grateful to be here today.

You're welcome.