Natasha is one of those children you fall in love with the moment you meet them. She started Aslan as a sweet little 7 year-old who was pleasant to be around and almost never a problem for anyone. She grew up with a single-parent mom who dearly loved Natasha and her sister. Her mom worked hard to provide for her girls, and she regularly expressed her gratitude to us for the assistance we provided for her family.
Natasha was always a high achiever, so we paired her with an Aslan tutor and a mentor to help her excel in school. Throughout primary and middle school this young lady worked hard to keep her grades up. She was a model student who proved to us time and again the value of our remediation approach to tutoring. Natasha also attended Aslan’s Right Choices, and Summer Camp programs and participated in our enrichment activities (long-distance cycling and downhill skiing).
Being a young impressionable teen with lots of pier pressure on her, Natasha decided in her sophomore year of high school that she didn’t need Aslan tutoring. Her attendance at Right Choices diminished and we became concerned. Towards the end of her junior year, Natasha was on the verge of failing and asked us if she could rejoin tutoring. With our intense help, she was able to bring her grades up and get back on track.
She applied to and was accepted to Hampton University in Virginia. At Aslan we felt privileged to help her, as we do with many of our students, with critical scholarship assistance. Before her senior year at Hampton, however, she ran into some personal problems and returned to New Jersey.
This was a serious setback for Natasha, but she refused to give up on her dreams. A couple of years after she dropped out of Hampton, she enrolled at Monmouth University and completed her degree in education.
Now, Natasha is happily married with two beautiful children and a loving husband. And, as a teacher, she is now helping shape the lives of children with the same values and dedication she learned through our programs.
