- Student; On Location
Kaileen Crane always knew she wanted to go to college. The questions were when and how.
“I did a little bit of everything: food service, house cleaning, carnival work,” says the 21-year-old Windham resident who earned her GED after dropping out of high school
The jobs were interesting, but they weren’t enough for a bright and curious young woman who wanted to make something of her life.
“I started to feel what I was wasting,” she says.
Last year, after she learned about the Southern New Hampshire University Advantage Program, Kaileen knew it was a match.
“Smaller class size, a little more guidance and, of course, the big pink elephant was the price, getting the same education, if not better,” she says.
She hasn’t been disappointed.
“It was incredible. It was awesome,” she says of her first year. “The teachers were great, really enthusiastic, and they wanted to have fun with it, have us get the knowledge.”
Kaileen, who plans to go on for her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English and teaching, attends classes at the Salem satellite campus four days a week and works at a local convenience store at night and on weekends.
“It requires a lot of time management,” she says.
But she wouldn’t have it any other way. Indeed, when friends ask if she feels that she’s missing out on the traditional undergraduate experience, Kaileen has a ready answer.
“Campus life, to me, seems like a distraction,” she says.
