{"id":93442,"date":"2020-08-18T08:28:58","date_gmt":"2020-08-18T12:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=93442"},"modified":"2020-08-14T02:11:54","modified_gmt":"2020-08-14T06:11:54","slug":"helping-hands-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2020\/08\/18\/helping-hands-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping hands"},"content":{"rendered":"
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D\u2019Layne Wilens is an Independent Scholars Network student at Wright State.<\/p><\/div>\n

When the Wright State Student Emergency Relief Campaign was launched, Rob and Ann Weisgarber quickly stepped up and made a gift to help students during the initial weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the Wright State graduates were inspired to do more.<\/p>\n

The Weisgarbers began having conversations with Bill Bigham, interim vice president for advancement, about how they could make a greater impact during this unprecedented and challenging time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to help someone who might be in jeopardy of not being able to continue their studies due to economic circumstances beyond their control,\u201d said Rob Weisgarber, a 1977 Wright State graduate. \u201cIt was also important to us to help a student who was fairly far along in school, preferably a junior or senior, that was already committed to Wright State and close to achieving their goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the conversations evolved, the Weisgarbers were introduced to the Independent Scholars Network (ISN)<\/a>, a program for Wright State students who have aged out of the foster care system. Since former foster youth have more obstacles to overcome than the typical Wright State student, the Weisgarbers thought this would be the ideal student population to help.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of us are not aware of the foster care system. We don\u2019t know about those students at Wright State,\u201d said 1976 Wright State graduate Ann Weisgarber. \u201cIt was important to us to heighten awareness.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Weisgarbers made a gift to the Rise. Shine. Scholarship fund to provide tuition and books for one ISN student for fall semester 2020. Wright State student D\u2019Layne Wilens is the grateful recipient of their generosity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so surprised. I\u2019m super thankful for it,\u201d said Wilens. \u201cI couldn\u2019t do any of this without them. I\u2019m going to push and continue pushing for my degree. I thank them so much for helping me and being there for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The road to Wright State has not been an easy one for Wilens, who estimates that he was in eight to 10 different foster homes throughout his youth.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hurts, but I think that there\u2019s a lot of growth that can come from being hurt,\u201d said Wilens. \u201cI\u2019ve had to adjust to change a lot. It\u2019s been pretty difficult. You have certain people in your life that are there trying to help you. But there\u2019s also a part of yourself that has responsibility in your own growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Milford High School graduate became familiar with Wright State when his older brother began taking classes at the university. Of the colleges that he considered, Wilens thought Wright State was the most welcoming and accepting of foster youth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis university is generous in supporting their students,\u201d said Wilens. \u201cRegardless of what background you come from, there\u2019s always a group of people there to support you with open arms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilens credits the ISN for making his transition to college easier and helping him to feel at home at Wright State. He is especially appreciative of the boot camp that the ISN provides for new students. During the two-week boot camp, faculty and staff from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Bursar\u2019s Office, RaiderConnect, Residence Life and Housing, Disability Services, Equity and Inclusion, and many other campus departments come together to welcome students to Wright State and assist them in adjusting to campus life.<\/p>\n

\u201cISN boot camp was awesome,\u201d said Wilens. \u201cIt provided exposure to the university\u2019s services and introduced opportunities for students to embark upon. In regard to my background, Wright State\u2019s community made me feel welcomed and embraced, a feeling no other college offered during my search for higher education.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tiffany Freeman, who served as ISN coordinator for the last two years, said the goal of ISN boot camp is to help former foster youth connect with familiar faces on campus. Freeman says that creating relationships can often be a struggle for this group of students.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s difficult for them to reach out when they need help. It can be very intimidating,\u201d Freeman explained.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Wright State alumni Ann and Rob Weisgarber made a gift to the Rise. Shine. Scholarship fund to provide support for D\u2019Layne Wilens, an Independent Scholars Network student at Wright State.<\/p><\/div>\n

To help students transition to college, the university also offers Raider Academy in June for ISN students and any other students who are eligible for Pell grants. Students in Raider Academy take English and developmental courses, so they come into fall semester already having seven credit hours on their belts.<\/p>\n

Raider Academy also gives ISN students the opportunity to move into campus housing early. Since students typically emancipate from foster care in the summer, they may not have a place to live before they start taking college classes in the fall. With Raider Academy, students are able to move on campus in June.<\/p>\n

ISN also offers coaching, monthly workshops on topics ranging from financial aid to taxes, and a mentoring program to help students integrate into university life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do as much as we can,\u201d said Freeman. \u201cRemember where these students have come from. They have outside challenges and adversity that they are facing on a daily basis because of all of the past childhood trauma that they have experienced.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freeman hopes that programs at Wright State and other universities will help improve the outcome for a student population that is high risk nationwide for low retention and graduation rates. \u201cThe rate of foster youth who enter higher education is astronomically low,\u201d said Freeman, \u201cand only three percent of former foster youth end up graduating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freeman says that flexibility is also key when working with students who have been emancipated from foster care.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s so structured, then they\u2019re almost set up to fail. It can be very discouraging for them,\u201d said Freeman, who is well aware that former foster youth face different challenges than other college students.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor some of these students, their dorm room is the only place they have to live,\u201d she said. \u201cIf they don\u2019t have their meal plan, they might not be able to eat.\u201d<\/p>\n

In spite of their challenges, Freeman has seen many ISN students thrive. For Freeman, their success is her greatest reward.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing their growth has been tremendous. A lot of the students have told me how helpful I have been or how helpful ISN has been. They really appreciate the support that they\u2019ve received,\u201d said Freeman. \u201cYou become pretty close with the students, watching their growth and helping them prepare to be the best they can be. It\u2019s the best feeling in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilens hopes to be another ISN success story. As he begins his fall semester at Wright State, Wilens is considering changing his major from medical laboratory science to information technology. His dream job is to work in information technology for the FBI one day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to take a lot of work to get there, but I know that I can do it,\u201d said Wilens.<\/p>\n

For Rob and Ann Weisgarber, helping Wright State students, like Wilens, achieve their dreams is one of life\u2019s greatest joys.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho wouldn\u2019t want to support a kid with that kind of ambition? We need for him to be successful,\u201d said Ann. \u201cHe\u2019s going to do good work.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Weisgarbers also recognize that scholarships can help lift some of the many burdens that students are carrying as they juggle their classes and studies while working multiple jobs to make ends meet.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that we can help people, we\u2019re grateful that we can,\u201d said Rob, who held down three jobs while he was taking classes at Wright State.<\/p>\n

While Wilens and other former foster youth may not have experienced traditional upbringings, they are determined that barriers from their past will not affect their future success.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the time, people look at foster kids differently because they don\u2019t generally associate them as \u2018normal.\u2019 Although their lives have been anything but normal, foster youth are extraordinary and they can accomplish anything that a person with a normal background could do,\u201d said Wilens. \u201cAll that they need is a support system, a career aspiration, and determination. With those, they\u2019ll be able to do whatever their heart desires.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

D\u2019Layne Wilens, an Independent Scholars Network student at Wright State, received support from the Rise. Shine. Scholarship fund. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":93527,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,733,4309,2064,4267,4839,743,2040,725,715,746],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-alumni","category-alumni-association","category-biology","category-computer-science-and-engineering","category-coronavirus","category-engineering-computer-science","category-giving","category-home-news-sidebar","category-news","category-science-mathematics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93442"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93535,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93442\/revisions\/93535"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}