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>> What brought me to DCTC the first time was the reputation of the school and the location.
Then I left to go to hair school and I owned my own business for a long time.
And then also worked in salons.
And then about four years ago I had, I was experiencing the death of a parent.
And then a few months later, the death of a sibling.
Those two things combined kind of made it seem like life is really short and that I just wanted
to go back to my passion which is photography.
>> I grew up in Liberia, a country of 4.2 million people.
I had huge aspirations of becoming a lawyer and I still do.
I thought about DCTC when I first thought about coming to the U.S. for school
and that's in search of a better education.
I came to DCTC because primarily I had looked up a list of colleges
within the Minnesota state, a list of two-year colleges.
And I was mostly attracted to the fact it had up on your website "Real education, real results".
Basically in this couple of programs and how much you're expected
to make once you complete the program.
They have a priority of making sure that, as a student,
you get your money's worth from whatever you learn.
So I thought, "Well, I'll give it a shot, you know, let's see what it have."
>> I worked for five years at [Inaudible] Nugget Iron Plant in northern Minnesota
and when they laid us all off, we were given the opportunity to go back to school
and get retrained and I chose DCTC as one
of the three electrical lineworker programs in the state.
Given the option to take evening classes and only go Monday through Thursday really helps me
with my family life since my wife still lives and works in Ely
and it gives me a chance to go home three days a week.
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>> Receiving a scholarship made it possible for me to keep coming here.
I'm a mother of two small children, ages three and four.
And having the homework load and the class load, and then going home to take care
of them does not leave much time for working.
And my husband works seasonally.
So without the scholarships I definitely would not be able to continue.
>> Well, receiving the scholarship has been a great relief.
Like all of the other students who receive this scholarship, it reduces the financial burden
and in some way helps you when it comes to paying off your fees and tuitions.
I think it's also important that you have this scholarship
because sometimes you will have other things to do.
You have to save up and it helps you in some way to avoid the worries of having
to pay it back, student loan and financial aid.
>> I was awarded a $1,000 scholarship from Xcel Energy and this helps me in a major way
because I'm traveling to go to school and that costs money
that I'm not making while I'm in school.
And it allows me to focus more on my academics and not worry
so much about how I'm paying for it.
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>> When I found out that I got the scholarships I was, first of all, shocked,
and it kind of felt like I won a game show or something.
But it was very touching and humbling.
And, I don't know, it was kind of emotional.
>> Well, first thing I got the email and then I got the letter of the scholarship.
I was stunned.
For a moment I couldn't believe it was actually happening.
At opening the email and seeing the letter and I thought, "Well, this is good."
And it took me a time to process into actual believe that I had won the scholarship.
Regardless of my GP I believe there are other students who are also good.
But to be selected and awarded this scholarship means a lot.
I had a silent scream that I can remember.
And then after a while I had to share with the rest of my family
that I had won a scholarship from the college.
We shared high fives.
I got tons of hugs.
It was really a moment to savor.
>> I would say that I was, I know there's a lot of people that put in for the scholarship
and a lot of people that that money will help just as much or more than it helps me.
Very happy about getting it.
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>> If I ever got to meet one of the donors, I would probably be a little bit speechless
because the generosity of people like them is what makes it possible
for people like me to do this.
And I would probably want to introduce them to my kids and say,
"This is who you are helping, too."
And just a huge thank you.
>> I'd like to say a very big thank you to people who funded this scholarship.
They might not know what this means to a lot of us but it's a huge, huge effort.
It's helping a lot of ways that I can't even say.
And to see that there are people who still care about students that they don't even know
but in believing them to give out their own money to support the education, it means a lot.
And I'm not sure how much more I can express my gratitude
but I'm really grateful for funding this scholarship.
>> Thank you.
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