About Us
They say college is supposed to be the best four years of your life. Well, our first year proved to be extremely difficult. We were always very good students, securing straight-As and stellar scores in regional exams. But, college was a different ball game. The high school mentality could not get us through. College also brought the freedom to be the masters of our own fate, but that was hard when we didn't know what we wanted that fate to be. To make matters even more challenging, we were many miles away from our island home and family. This meant we had to adjust to a whole new culture, climate, and food.
"It was no surprise, or at least it shouldn’t have been when at the end of my freshman year I gained 20 POUNDS! I had poor eating habits and I never worked out, especially when that winter hit. My grades were mediocre, even though I was studying until the wee hours of the morning. And, I was not very involved on campus. This couldn’t be how college is supposed to go. There had to be another way ‘to college’. I later found out that my situation was not unique. A lot of students just go to college and feel like they have to choose between academics and having fun. But, YOU DON’T!
It wasn’t until I did the research and applied the methods in my second year that I saw some real changes. I’ve only received straight A’s ever since I changed my study habits. In my course Straight A’s Stress-Free, I break down how to excel in your studies. The course teaches students how to stay organized, maximize time, study effectively and retain information. It also provides insight on how to navigate the classroom and office hours and it also gives tips for better your sleeping habits so that you have the energy and focus to power through the day."
- Shantae Shand
"Struggling to pay tuition was the story of my life for my first year in college. Like many college students, I got SOME scholarships to attend college but they weren't enough. Financial aid covered about 80% and while that was great my family and I would have to come up with the other 20%. I remember having so much anxiety surrounding my finances and being an international student studying in the USA I had to factor in the exchange rate of what my parents would be trying to contribute and it was literally a struggle! I took up not 1, not 2 but 3 on-campus jobs to ensure that I could sustain myself as well as contribute to my tuition and it was such a strain. I thought to myself there must be some way for me to get some help through getting scholarships and I was right. After hundreds of hours of trial and error, I figured out I was failing in searching because I had no plan. I was searching the wrong way and getting the wrong results! This is why I created the 7 Day Scholarship Search Challenge. I figured out the strategy to searching and finding scholarships that were right for me based on who I was and what defined me! This strategy has helped me to pay the rest of my tuition not covered by financial aid, using scholarships and without the support of my family. I was able to earn 10,000 in scholarships in the first semester first sophomore year and continued earning since."
We’ve seen many students battle with weight gain, sub-par academic performance, lack of financial resources, poor time management skills, and discipline. Every college student can excel, but only a few have access to the strategies to do so. We are driven by our common belief that success doesn't happen by chance but by intention and college is the perfect place to start sculpting the dream life we ultimately want. We owe our current and future successes to the support we’ve given each other and the systems we’ve developed. These are the tools we want to share and the support we want to provide. Given our passion for education and helping people, we decided to create Young & Thriving, a brand that provides college students with the resources they need to excel in college.