“CDI was there for me”

CDI Scholar alumna Barbara (right) with her sister Grace.

Without CDI I would not be where I am today. Every year, they pave the way for first-generation and low-income Scholars like me.  They are patient, caring, kind, and extremely dedicated to all their scholars. CDI was there for my siblings and me when we literally had no one to turn to. They did not have to pay our rent for two months when we were on the verge of becoming homeless and they did not have to buy us groceries when we were hungry, but they did. While I was in foster care, [CDI staff] did not have to house my older sister when she had nowhere to live, but she did. My counselor did not have to spend all those nights reading my essays and editing them for me for six years, but she did. CDI did not have to help my brother who was not in the program apply to colleges, but it did. This is the organization that you are donating to, the one that was there for us when we had no one else. I would never be able to repay CDI for what they did for my siblings and me, but now because of them, I thrive to be stellar at everything I do. Some people say that your past does not define you, but I think it does. The past is what made me who I am today, and it will be what makes me who I will be tomorrow. It took an organization like CDI to make me realize my true strength. 

- Barbara, Goucher College, Class of 2018