We don’t tell anybody what to do. Every Wiley Scholar is an expert on their own life.

-Judi Alperin King, Ph.D.

What happens when a high school student has the desire, the motivation, and the grades to go to college, but lacks the support and the resources to make their life-changing goal a reality?  Enter thewilynetwork.org.  With a BA from Hamilton College, a Masters degree from Boston College and a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, Judi Alperin King is the Founder and Executive Director of the Massachusetts-based non-profit.  Her vast skillset includes work as a psychologist for 30 years where she focused on children facing serious emotional and behavioral problems. Judi climbed the ladder in her field, developing a keen understanding of what it means to create a sense of community for those in need.  This experience helped her shape the Wiley Network which re-trains clinicians as coaches, providing wrap-around support services that nurture Wiley Scholars from matriculation to graduation,  with weekly meetings, advice, guidance, and a listening ear.  In this interview, Judi explains that colleges are not set up to support the needs of students who don’t have “family privilege“.   Says Judi: ” Our scholars are on their own, living below the poverty level.  Of course, someone loves them, but that parent or guardian, for whatever reason, cannot help them make their college dream come true.”   At its core, the organization honors the scholar as the heart of the mission.  To date, 62 students have graduated from college and there are now 78 scholars on 15 different campuses in the Boston area.   Raised by parents who valued contributing to the greater good, Judi likes to ask the question:  “Who did you help today?”  Her advice to a teenage girl in foster care who wants to go to college but has no one to guide her?  In the words of Mr. Rogers:  “Look for the helpers” and reach out to the Wiley Network.  We’ll be there for you.” #college #education #thewileynetwork #thestorybehindhersuccess.