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As Dallas Kelly wrapped up her Junior year at Hartford High School, she had big college dreams. She saw herself at a huge state school with tens of thousands of students in a big city that offered a world of opportunity. “I idolized college in my mind. I was looking for something big and different, something to push and challenge me,” she recalls.  

Then, at an end-of-year awards assembly, the standout student from Sharon received the St. Michael’s College Book Award, which came with a hefty scholarship to the small school in Colchester, Vermont. While she was honored and very grateful for the award, she also began her senior-year college process with a big decision weighing on her: “Do I go to one of my ‘dream schools’ that I don’t know much about, that’s also really expensive? Or do I go to a local college where I could go for virtually nothing?”

Having participated in 51������’s Talent Search college and career planning program since her sophomore year at Hartford, Dallas was prepared for the college process, even though none of her parents—her mom, her stepdad or her dad—went to college. According to her 51������ Outreach Counselor, Beth Clay, “Dallas worked really hard her senior year, applying for every possible scholarship and grant, and she advocated for herself with many institutions.” Midway through her senior year, she had been accepted to several schools, and it came down to the numbers.  

A chance encounter

“51������ was incredibly helpful. Beth knew how to run the numbers for me, knew the programs, knew the alternatives, knew every possible path I could take to get me where I wanted to be,” says Dallas, who loves children and hopes to work as a pediatric speech-language pathologist or a behavioral interventionist, perhaps specializing in children on the autism spectrum or recovering from trauma.

“Beth also knew what I needed. She always encouraged me, but she was also realistic. Having real numbers in front of me was so helpful. It helped me not idolize college anymore because the financial reality was in front of me. Without 51������, I would have been lost in the figures. I’m incredibly grateful that I had that resource.”  

But for several months, Dallas still worried that if she chose the most financially sustainable path, she might be giving up on her dreams. She asked a lot of people for advice, especially those who had gone through the same decision process a year or two earlier.  

As the second youngest of four children, Dallas turned to one of her older brothers, who had to pivot on his own college plan when the school he chose—Johnson and Wales in Miami, Florida—shut down during COVID. “He said he knew I would make anywhere the place I wanted to be once I got there.”  

The others she turned to offered advice on both sides, from “go where you love” to “the dream college isn’t worth it; you’ll find joy and opportunity anywhere you go.”  

In the end, a chance encounter during a visit to St. Michael’s College sealed the deal.

I went to visit St. Mike’s, and there was this girl I went to middle school with. I had always seen her as this vibrant, social, exuberant person who I could see loving the city life, so I was surprised to see her at this small school. I asked her how she ended up there, and she said she got an amazing scholarship. I asked her what she thought of that decision now. She said it was hard at the time to give up her ideal of the ‘dream school,’ but she had to make the smartest financial decision. She also told me, ‘If you want something, you will seek it out wherever you are. You will make it your home, and you won’t want to leave.’ That helped me a lot.

Busy but focused

Now a sophomore at St. Mike’s, Dallas has done just that. She’s double majoring in elementary education and English and minoring in psychology. And her extracurricular calendar proves what she soon discovered: “Even though it’s a small school, there is so much to get involved in.”

Dallas is a hiking leader and is training to be a paddle sports instructor at the Adventure Sports Center, where students lead day hikes, rock climbs, and kayaking and mountain biking excursions. She picked up Ultimate Frisbee this year. She is the Class of 2028 representative on the honors program committee. She has an on-campus job. And she’s active with the DREAM mentorship program, where college students are paired with local kids from age 5 to 15 who come from modest-income families. Dallas will be taking on a leadership role with DREAM this year.

How does she manage it all? Strong friendships are key, Dallas says. “My roommates are well-organized and focused people, so we all keep each other on track,” she says with a laugh.  

Looking back on her journey, Dallas recalls something she heard often as she was weighing her college decision. “A lot of people told me, ‘Go to the school that will make you happy every day.’ Originally I thought that was one of my big-city dream schools,” Dallas says. “Now I realize those schools might have been exciting for every day of the first semester. But God knew my heart. He knew that what I needed from a school in order to call it my home was a tightknit community, access to some sort of a city, and most of all nature to explore. And that’s what St. Mike’s gives to me.”