Indianapolis, Indiana (January 2007) – Thanks to his own determination, support from the Nina Mason Pulliam Scholarship, and IUPUI’s University College, Henry Millard has turned around his academic career and his life.
As a first-year student, Millard found that making the adjustment to life in college was overwhelming as he no longer had the guidance he had received while in foster care. “My whole freshman year was just so terrible,” he says. “When I got here I was so used to having someone wake me up in the morning or tell me what I needed to do.” He failed all but one of his classes that year – a bitter disappointment in light of his 3.8 high school GPA.
With the help of Charlie Johnson, Director of Scholar Support Programs at University College, Millard began accessing campus resources that were able to address the challenges that he was facing. In his second year, Millard’s grades improved to A’s and B’s, and he worked as an Assistant Field Trip Coordinator at The National Institute for Fitness and Sport which became his inspiration for choosing Youth Development as his major through the Individualized Major Program.
“Henry experienced a difficult transition from a foster home and high school to residence life and college expectations,” explains Johnson. “The program response to this was to coach persistence, facilitate his developing resilience and to provide academic support. We encouraged his frequent visits to meet with the Program Director and mentors. We tailored some of our programming to address challenges that Henry and other new scholars were facing.”
Millard’s advice for other college-bound students is to utilize all available campus resources…stay out of trouble [by staying] involved with a hobby or interest...“try your best because your best is all you’ve got…and live every day like it’s a new day.”