Yesterday at Wheelock College, that meant envisioning a future lifestyle and career, then developing a budget to see what it would take to pay for it.
Miranda said she would drive a used Honda Civic, live in a mid-range apartment, and buy groceries rather than eating out to save money. In all, she calculated the cost of basic food, shelter, and transportation for her dream life at $1,300 a month.
“Oh, that’s a lot of money,’’ she said, scrunching her face at the bottom line. “I didn’t even add any expenses. It costs a lot to raise three kids and have a husband,’’ she said of her model family.
The weekend sessions, which started last month, are part of a program called Mission Possible, now in its fourth year. It seeks to boost college preparation for Hispanic teenagers, who historically have struggled to graduate from high school, get into universities, and complete degrees at the same rates as their classmates.
In the coming months, students in the program are scheduled to visit Northeastern University, Boston College, Wentworth Institute of Technology, and Harvard University, among others.
“It makes me feel like I can get anywhere, and go everywhere I want to go,’’ the soft-spoken teenager said after the financial responsibility and budgeting session. Now she is taking all honors classes and earned a spot on the honor roll last quarter, which she said she owed to Sociedad Latino.
“Being here and learning to be comfortable in a college space is a big goal of this program,’’ said Katie Magyar, program coordinator for Mission Possible.
Many Latino high school students’ parents who never attended college struggle to navigate the complexities of financial aid, the application process, and how to cope once they get to college, Magyar said.
Although data provided by the state Department of Secondary and Elementary Education show that 64 percent of Boston Public School students graduate on time and that the city’s high-school drop-out rate is at the lowest it has been since the state started keeping track 16 years ago, Latino youths consistently fall behind.
