It’s time for students old and new to apply for Fafsa (Financial Aid) and scholarships. UHMC’s grant funded Educational Opportunity Center is encouraging all potential students to secure success by taking advantage of various guidance opportunities geared towards setting students up to succeed. Find money for college, build value to your resume, find opportunities and so much more. The EOC is here to assist you with the on-boarding process in the most valuable way possible. In this article Program Adviser Precious Atendido shares more on how you can benefit from many free services offered by the EOC.
Precious has been with UH in general for a decade long, and 3 years for Maui’s EOC specifically. She enjoys working with the college system helping students or people in general get in the door. She advises on career exploration, assessment, resume building and more in order to prepare them with the right foot forward.
“That’s my ‘Why’ statement, my purpose. Helping students get in the door, inspire and equip people to learn and grow. It’s what I love to do, whether in this role or even in my personal life.”
Precious’s message today is to let everyone know that the EOC is open and ready to assist you. Since the start of the pandemic the EOC has had to get creative in finding ways to reach the community mostly due to the new campus covid restrictions. Lack of in person classes and students means it’s a challenge to let the community know that they are still available. The main idea is that the economic opportunity center should be the first stop on your path to higher education and learning.
“I wanna tell people to go ahead and utilize our services! There are people here to help and you don’t have to try and navigate the system or on boarding all alone. You can make a simple phone call and we can meet face to face or via video chat. This is a free service, utilize it. We provide a link to all other departments and services, we are the first step on your way.”
One of the best perks of utilizing the EOC is the assistance in finding scholarships, creating personal statements, and applying for financial aid. Precious mentioned staff member and student Kanaloa Ducosin, who is a complete wiz at finding scholarships for students. He himself was able to put himself through almost his entire education debt free and completely paid for by scholarships. He is here to help you at the EOC. They even assist with transferring to other colleges and job and career opportunities as well. What’s more is that they even have a youth and adolescence program called ETS, Educational Talent Search. Consider this a pre- pre service which prepares youth for college as well.
It is October 7, 2021 and now is the time to hit it hard. Make an appointment at UHMC’s Economic Opportunity Center today to get your affairs in order regarding becoming a student and moving forward with your educational goals. The EOC is a one stop shop that not only gets you on board, but helps you find money for college and threads you through to any of the other departments. No need to feel lost or confused, the wonderful staff at the EOC will assist in making a clear pathway for you to begin and remove any barriers you are unsure about. To schedule an appointment with an advisor, please call (808) 984-3286, or email EOC@hawaii.edu. Visit them online at https://maui.hawaii.edu/eoc and on instagram @eocmaui.
