L’Jaree’ Troupe had fallen behind on her tuition payments and nearly had to leave Florida Career College in Boynton Beach, where she is studying to become a medical assistant. Everything turned around for Troupe when she won a full-ride scholarship through an FCC essay contest called “Be the Change.”
“Even before the whole scholarship, I was trying to work a job and having a baby,” said Troupe, 27, who is a single mother. “Then it got to the point where I got so behind, they were like, ‘if you don’t have your payment, you can’t come back into the classroom.’”
Part of the reason why Troupe submitted her essay had to do with the lucrative full scholarship attached to it that wiped out all her debt. Now, she doesn’t owe a single quarter, she said.
Over 160 students submitted essays for the contest, which FCC created in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. A committee of faculty and administration from the 10 FCC locations across the state judged each entry and decided that Troupe’s merited the winning prize.