(written by Val, College Outreach Specialist at the Center for College Planning)

Happy Wednesday!

As you may know from reading the Joe College Blog, there are several guest writers that share insight, wisdom and fun facts about their college search and college life.  Beginning this month, we will begin featuring blogs written by two individuals that work in the financial aid offices of two NH colleges.  Our financial aid bloggers will offer tips and pointers to the f inancial aid process, give you a different perspective when analyzing your aid package from your different colleges and hopefully make the process seem less daunting.   

Lisa Ghilani is a Financial Aid Counselor for Granite State College  in Concord, NH. She has worked in financial aid  for nearly 10 years. After seven years in financial aid, she decided to pursue a different career path. In this new career she just didn’t get the same satisfaction and feel the reward as she did working with students as they navigate the financial aid  process. So she’s now  back , helping students achieve their dream of going to college.  Lisa knows a college degree is so beneficial in today’s society and she takes pride in knowing she is able to help change a student’s life.  When she’s not working, she really enjoys traveling  - especially to any place with a beautiful beach and lots of palm trees! Lisa is a true New England sports fan and enjoys watching the Red Sox, Bruins and Patriots. She also enjoys NASCAR. 

Amanda Clark is currently an Assistant Director in the Financial Aid Office at Keene State College .  She joined the KSC team in January of 2010, coming to Keene with two and a half years professional experience in Financial Aid from Emmanuel College in Boston and Hesser College in Manchester.  Her professional experience in financial aid is supplemented by her experiences as a work-study student over the course of several years at Emmanuel College.  Her favorite parts of working financial aid are the opportunities she gets to talk to different kinds of students and families as well as unique problem solving for many situations on a daily basis.

 We hope you enjoy hearing from Lisa and Amanda as you navigate your path to college.  If you have questions or would like to have a particular topic area covered, please post a comment and we would be happy to answer your questions and/or dedicate a blog to that topic.  And as always, if you have specific questions about your situation, please call the Center for College Planning at 888.7.GRADUATE ext. 119.