Benjamin Kalway wanted to be part of a community and pursue a variety of different passions.
That’s what made Saint John’s University so attractive when the Foley High Schol graduate was making his college decision.
“I liked that I’d get a more individualized education there,” said Kalway, who majored in music with a minor in secondary education and graduated last spring.
“There was a smaller, more tight-knit feel to the campus. It felt like home to me. Not just some place I was going to classes. I had the chance to get involved in a lot of different things.”
Indeed, during his time on campus, Kalway – who is now teaching music at the elementary school level and coaching track and field in the Albany (Minnesota) school district – was a member of the CSB and SJU brass choir and wind ensemble, part of Johnnie Bennie Esports and the Tabletop Gaming Club and ran track and field for a time.
But he said all that would not have been possible were it not for the boost provided by FirstUp, a donor-funded scholarship program at SJU that provides tuition assistance, as well as academic and student support services, to those like Kalway who are the first in their families to attend college.
“I would not have been able to come here or have the experiences I did without it,” said Kalway, one of seven siblings. “I’d tell students who are in my position to check the program out and utilize every part of it – because it covers so many areas.
“And I thank everyone who helps make it happen because this program makes Saint John’s a possibility for myself and others.”
Sydney Robinson ’19, the associate director of multicultural student services and student success coach for the FirstUp Scholars, said the program is individualized to a student’s needs and aspirations.
Assistance is available to help with the costs of traveling home, studying abroad, affording club fees, attending conferences, graduate school interviews and much more.
FirstUp scholars also meet regularly with a student success coach, who offers mentorship and support as they navigate their collegiate experience.
“The goal is to help alleviate some of the worries, financial or otherwise, and allow them to focus on school and their campus experience,” Robinson said.
Bangaly Kaba, a current FirstUp scholar, is majoring in English with a minor in secondary education. The sophomore is a member of the track-and-field team, co-president of the African Student Association and coaches speech at St. Cloud Apollo High School, his alma mater.
He said the program has not only made Saint John’s affordable, but it’s helped him connect with others in the campus community.
“Because of FirstUp, I locked in with the people at the multicultural center, which helped make me aware of different resources on campus and exposed me to different events that are going on,” said Kaba, whose parents emigrated to the U.S. from Guinea in the late 1990s.
“These are really cool people, and I can tell they really care about me.”
Richard Guerue, who graduated from SJU last spring, came to Collegeville from Bishop Amat High School in La Puente, California. He said he would never have come halfway across the country for college were it not for the assistance FirstUp provided.
“This scholarship made attending Saint John’s the same cost as many of the four-year universities near my home in California,” he said.
Guerue is now volunteering with the Benedictine Volunteer Corps, a service opportunity offered to recent graduates of SJU. According to its mission, “grounded in Benedictine values and spirituality, the BVC provides a unique encounter with the Catholic monastic tradition, the multitude of needs expressed in religious communities around the world and the challenge to commit one’s talents to meeting those needs.”
In Guerue’s case, that means serving in Puerto Rico, an opportunity he said the assistance he received from FirstUp helped inspire him to undertake.
“With this program, there were individuals who dedicated time to be advisors, such as an academic and financial aid advisor,” he said. “Those within the program also took care to act as mentors for us. They’d check on us and always try to pair us with a mentor who we could meet with at least once a month, if not more.
“Other experiences included the ability to take advantage of additional stipends – such as a yearly travel stipend – so that I could travel home during breaks and not worry about how I would pay for it. I was able to travel out of the country for the first time because of a study abroad stipend that covers part of the cost in applying for study-abroad programs. I was able to participate in the May-term global health trip to Zambia. It was here I was able to experience a new culture for the first time outside the U.S. while volunteering with African Impact with my fellow classmates on our program.
“The FirstUp scholarship greatly affected my past four years and, in many ways, my foreseeable future,” he added.
