As Jack Serra neared his high school graduation on Long Island, New York, he and his mother had a talk about his future.
Serra’s father had been killed when Serra was one month old, leaving his mother and grandmother to raise him on their own. Serra’s mother hopped from job to job to make ends meet, but Serra knew she couldn’t provide the kind of tuition money that many of his friends counted on. Still, she delivered a clear message to her son: “We’re going to figure this out. We’re going to get you a college degree.”
That started a process of applying for colleges, scholarships, and financial aid that ultimately landed Serra at St. John’s University. After two years there, he transferred to the University of Miami thanks to a combination of financial aid, federal grants, and a scholarship from the College of Arts & Sciences.
“I thank God every day for the impact [the scholarship] has had on my life and the amount of weight that’s been relieved off my shoulders,” he said.
Serra has made the most of his opportunity. He is majoring in history and political science and has a 3.8 grade point average. He’s the president of the University’s chapters of UNICEF and the Tau Sigma National Honor Society. Now in his senior year, Serra has decided to become a lawyer, partly to help people in need and partly to make enough money to give his mother the life she deserves.
“I’m working as hard as I can so that at some point in my life, she doesn’t have to do that anymore,” he said.
Before going to law school, though, Serra is hoping to attend the London School of Economics and Political Science to get a master’s degree. He has already been accepted into the program and is figuring out how to pay for it.
