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Unique Program Helping Mid-Life Adults In Ventura County Go To College, Launch New Careers

Ventura College is home to a unique scholarship which helps re-entry students, who are often in their 30's, 40's, and 50's.

She was an Oxnard teen with a simple dream: To go to college. But, fate would put Clarissa Swallows plan on hold for decades. It got worse, with her father developing prostate cancer, and her mother breast cancer. Even though she was an honors student, she dropped out of high school to take care of her ill parent, a move that ultimately sidetracked her college ambitions until now, some two decade later. A unique Ventura College scholarship program is helping her get her degree.

When Swallows was 29, her mother died, and when she was 30, her father died. She had two daughters, and took jobs managing a tavern, and then later working in insurance so she’d have time to care for her kids. But, she kept getting called back to caregiving.

Finally, last summer, the now 37 year old woman returned to school, taking classes at Oxnard College. But, with two kids, juggling work and school and trying to pay the bills is tough. Now, she’s getting some help. She’s one of 29 people getting scholarships through a nearly two decade old Ventura College Foundation program aimed at re-entry college students, called the Phoenix Scholarship.   

Anne King is the foundation’s Executive Director. She says the program has an incredible track record, helping hundreds of people get degrees, and launch new careers since  it started nearly two decades ago.

In this round, nearly $50,000 in scholarships will be awarded to Ventura College re-entry students. King says the help will be a real life changer for many of these students.

Even though she doesn’t know how much scholarship money she’ll be getting, Clarissa Swallows says every bit helps, as she works to become a registered nurse. She’s hoping to finish her Ventura College work, and transfer to Cal State Channel Islands in 2019 as she works to become a registered nurse.

Like most colleges, Ventura College has a number of financial aid and scholarship programs, and the Ventura College Foundation is straining to help as many students as possible. The number of scholarship applicants jumped from 300 last year to 500 this year, and the college is awarding nearly 280 scholarships.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral. 
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