The College Now/START program helped Maritsa Barros '05 build a foundation for success.
At College Now's 2017 Share the Dream Banquet, Maritsa Barros '05 shared her memories of College Now with first-year students who were celebrating their completion of the fall 2016 academic program.
Barros is currently the Director of the Urban Scholars Initiative at Lesley University, a position which she described as her "dream role."
She said, "I would not have found my way to this position if it were not for UMass Dartmouth . . . I had no idea of the impact College Now was going to have on my life."
Barros traced her own success to the lessons she learned in College Now. "I cannot thank College Now enough for believing in me and building a foundation in myself that continues to serve and guide me today."
She closed her speech with the motto that highlights the program's enduring impact: "Once College Now, always College Now."