Here, catch up with a few members of that first MFOS class: Says Opportunity Scholar Jess Wardell: “It was the biggest blessing I didn’t know existed.” To explore, to take chances, to pursue a life passion rather than settle for a paycheck.Īnd to ultimately see their talents given back to the wider world. It was very freeing.”Īnd from that freedom, opportunity. I was able to study without worrying about how I would eat or pay bills. I was able to join a sorority and find a home at UF. I was able to do key unpaid internships, even one in New York City, that helped launch my career. “It’s not just studying that makes success possible. “This program is a true equalizing force in our very unequal society,” says Amelia Harnish, another graduate of that first cohort. “MFOS changed my life,” says Marquitta Brown, a member of that first class, “because college was a dream that became a reality.”Īs this inaugural class’s stories bear out, MFOS creates expanding circles of success, with communities and family members reaping the benefits of just one person’s improved path.Ī path forged, thanks to the scholarship, on a more level playing field. The scholarship covers tuition, books and living expenses, as well as provides a host of supports, including peer mentors and financial literacy and life skills workshops, for between 300 and 400 entering freshman each year. “I am very pleased to inform you that you have been selected as a Florida Opportunity Scholar.”Ĭelebrating 15 years, the Machen Florida Opportunity Scholars (MFOS) program, as it would come to be known, has at last official count seen 3,347 low-income, first-generation students graduate debt-free. They had just gained admission to the University of Florida, the first in their families to attend college.īut how would they pay? As some of Florida’s most economically disadvantaged high school graduates, they lacked both a financial cushion and, as their families’ trailblazers, a blueprint to navigate the mysterious world of higher education. In 2006, 444 young Floridians were bouncing between euphoria and despair.
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