Built by someone who's been there

My college counselor existed. Every visit felt like checking a box — a few minutes, generic advice, out the door. Financial aid was worse: tab after tab, waiting in lines, and different answers depending on who I caught that day. I was completely lost — not because I wasn't trying, but because the information was scattered across systems that didn't talk to each other, delivered by people who didn't always agree.

I never did a single internship. Not because I couldn't — because nobody ever pointed me toward them, and I didn't know to look. I took my classes, earned my credits, and didn't realize what I was missing until it was almost too late to do anything about it. Academically I mostly figured things out on my own — until I nearly missed a lower-division requirement that could have blocked me from graduating. My counselor didn't catch it. I caught it by chance. That shouldn't be how it works.

I'm not sure how much of this was my fault. Probably some of it. But I keep coming back to one question: if there had been something paying closer attention — something that knew my school's rules, my situation, and cared enough to say "hey, here's what you're missing" — would things have looked different? I think so. That's what I'm building.