CARB STORY

Challenge Action Result Benefit

1.

For personal reasons, I was unable to file the Federal Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) when

making the transfer from high school to post-secondary education. Unfortunately, this barrier meant

that I would not be able to receive federal financial assistance or various private scholarships that

required my estimated family contribution (derived from the FAFSA). Moreover, I did not have an

established credit history, so I was unable to apply for private student loans. After I was unable to work

with financial advisors to address the problem, I decided to finance my education out-of-pocket.

 

I financed 3 semesters at a local liberal arts college by working 2 full-time jobs during the school year,

and 3 during the summer. Unfortunately, my attendence and academic performance sufferred, and I was

physically unable to sustain this level of activity. I withdrew from the university and began looking for

an alternative approach. I was unable to attend school for 2 years, during which time I replenished my

personal savings, researched loopholes that would allow me to apply for the FAFSA, and moved to

Arizona for a university with more opportunities and financial assistance. Through these adjustments, I

have been able to work fewer hours and focus on my degree program. I have received Dean’s List

recognition every semester of enrollment at Arizona State University, am an officer in my honors

society, have received awards for community service, and am set to graduate with honors in May.

 

The struggles I faced during the onset of my post-secondary education have proven to be invaluable

lessons. That was the first time I had ever encountered a situation through which I couldn’t simply

persevere. In addition to humility, this experience taught me to acknowledge my own limits, to

efficiently manage my time and resources, and the value of taking the time to research and strategically

plan my course of action prior to embarking upon it. I have been able to apply these lessons to my

continued pursuit of higher education, as well as to my professional and personal endeavors outside of

the university.

 

 

 

2.

In high school, I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in a youth diversion program called Teen

Court. There are variations of this program across the nation, but students in this program were able to

act as jurors, attorneys, and judges in misdemeanor cases under the supervision of school

administrators and a local magistrate. The program gave students exposure to evidentiary laws and

procedures, court protocols, elements of statutes, and legal rights through sentencing trials. Defendents

were sent to the program by schools or municipal and county courts, and they particpated in the

program in exchange for the deferral of charges upon successful completion of their sentences.

 

Despite the multiple avenues through which a teen could become a defendant in the program, eligibility

was predicated on the case being the youth’s first-offense. Unfortunately, a performance review of the

diversion programs in the area concluded that defendents were able to have multiple charges deferred

because there were too many independently operating programs. Local officials feared that this

oversight could lead to moral hazard in the community, and comissioned a diversion council to address

these problems. It became apparent early-on that we needed to route all youth diversion cases through a

single organization in order to prevent exploitation of the system. Unfortunately, the organization that

was elected for this task did not see the value in sending defendents from the municipal and county

courts to the Teen Court program. This loss had a drastic impact on the funding we were able to secure

for the program, and left us without enough cases to employ our volunteers.

 

The Teen Court program was no longer viable in the new political landscape, but we didn’t want

students to lose the opportunities it provided. I worked closely with the Teen Court Coordinator and

school officials to create an alternative program that would exclusively deal with school disciplinary

hearings. Since we had a disproportionately large number of student volunteers who wanted to gain

exposure and experience, we decided that the new program would take the form of a tribunal rather

than a trial. We included as many elements from the original program as we could, especially regarding

evidentiary laws and procedures, so that students would receive similar benefits as their predecessors. It

took us most of the school year to draft the scripts, training materials, protocols, and rules of evidence

for the tribunal, but we were able to successfully implement the new program before summer break.

 

While although I wish that we had been able to secure the Teen Court program for future students, this

experience helped me to cultivate a number of invaluable skills. The dissolution of the program

afforded me the opportunity to participate in the creation of a new program. I was exposed to the

administrative and executive functions of organizations, most of which are amenable to other

organizations. This enabled me to better understand the big picture in both my business studies and

employment. Additionally, I had to collaborate with a diverse group of people, and this experience

taught me to balance competing interests, develop my communication skills, and improve my overall

ability to work in a team setting. The research that was necessary for the proposal and development of

the different materials and procedures allowed me to increase my own resourcefulness and analytical

skills. Finally, the experience implementing a new program and procedures made me aware of gaps

between theory and practice, and the flexibility required to adjust as necessary.