Near the end of Jaqui Hernandez-Martinez’s third year at Pitt, her mom made a discovery. She couldn’t wait to share it, nearly bubbling over with excitement by the time she got her daughter on the phone.
“Do you know about this FAFSA thing that you can apply to and get grants and scholarships?” she asked in a rush.
Hernandez-Martinez suppressed a laugh and reassured her mom that, yes, she knew about the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, and absolutely, she’d filed one every year.
“It was so sweet,” Hernandez-Martinez said. “She just had no idea.”
Hernandez-Martinez’s parents, who grew up in Mexico, didn’t attend college or graduate from high school, so while they have unconditionally supported their daughter’s dream of higher education, they haven’t always understood it.
Written by April Johnston, photography by Aimee Obidzinski