Melisa Hypolite

About Melisa

• Was born in Trinidad, West Indies; later moved with her siblings to Philadelphia, PA, to live with her father, leaving her mother behind in Trinidad.
• Admits that this transition was really hard on her—not only did she have to adapt to a new culture, but she also had to adjust to living without her mother around.
• In high school, she struggled and her GPA showed it—admits that she didn’t really have any college plans and was told that because of her grades she could only get into a community college.
• Not knowing what her options were and lacking any guidance, she only applied to one college and got in.
• Once in college, she found the support structure that she had been lacking—some professors took an interest in first-generation college students and provided additional emotional support.
• Used her degree in communications to begin working in television at Nielsen, the TV ratings company, but quickly got bored with it—bounced around jobs from leasing, sales, and school counseling.
• While working as a school counselor, she found that her passion was in helping students get to college and change their lives.
• She now works for the CollegeBound Foundation, guiding people in their pursuit of higher education; she’s also the author of “I’m Ready,” a guidebook for college and career readiness.