Our story

I grew up in a rural, low-income community where everyone knew everyone else. My high school was roughly 120 students with dedicated staff and families, but navigating the college process was ultimately up to us. I was lucky enough to stumble upon a college guidance program that showed me I belonged anywhere I wanted to go. Even though I was wracked with insecurities stepping onto Princeton’s campus as a freshman, I slowly began to realize that talent wasn’t an issue. Access was. The right mentorship and college guidance changed my trajectory entirely. It expanded my ambitions and helped me see possibilities I had not imagined for myself. How many other rural kids hadn’t even considered applying to college, much less a top university? That question would nag at me for years to come.

Throughout college, graduate school, and into my professional career, I found myself consistently mentoring students through the college process. I loved it.

I loved helping students discover schools they had never considered. I loved helping them tell their stories. I loved helping them navigate scholarships, financial aid, and the overwhelming uncertainty that comes with applying to college. CREO first came to be as an idea during graduate school, but I kept putting it off. I was intimidated by the size of the challenge ahead and scared of failing. 

Then while mentoring another student, I realized something: I was encouraging students to not walk away from opportunities because they feared rejection or believed they did not belong. Meanwhile, I was doing the exact same thing. I was letting fear make my decisions. At that moment, I realized I needed to live the same values I was instilling in my students: To go for it, to trust that effort matters, and to understand that success is not only measured by outcomes, but also by having the courage to try. So I decided to stop waiting.

And I started CREO.