Keyla Rochelle, a Passport student at New Mission High School was insistent with her Passport Coach that she’d never fit in at a college setting. Over the course of many conversations, Keyla shared that she was very interested in the fashion industry. Dani took her to visit the fashion program at Lasell University and arranged for her to meet a fashion major. Over time working with Dani, Keyla gained confidence and applied to 19 colleges, and was accepted into 18 of them. She is now in her second semester on a nearly full ride scholarship at Lasell. 

Through the application process she was persistent. She remained on top of her deadlines, kept her portals and decisions organized and was proud everytime she got news from a college. Keyla worked so hard, despite feeling like college wasn’t for her, she worked hard academically and in her extracurriculars helping the community in a girls club at school. 

“In my eyes I’m doing the unthinkable, going to college will open up doors I never knew existed. As I prepare to now go off to my new journey, I keep in the back of my mind the generational curse I’m proud to be breaking. My mother worked so hard that I became blind to the fact that we were a struggling family of two. With my degree, I hope to mirror her work ethic to be able to break the cycle of poverty, while making her proud.” She says.

Now Keyla is in her second semester of college and is working toward her bachelor’s degree despite some bumps on the road she has found a group of friends that she loves and has been able to experience college life.

She says. “Working with Dani has ignited a flame I’ve been putting out for some time. Education was taken very seriously in my household but going to college was never the end goal so it never occurred to me that college could be an option. With the HERC scholarship I’m going into my first year of college with a $50 balance.”