When Audreyana enrolled in college for the first time, she thought she had to do it all on her own. “Having to reconcile the fact that I was alone, whereas all my peers had people supporting them, pushing them through all these college applications and here I am, I have no idea really what I am going to do with my life,” Audreyana says.
“I just gave up. To me it just seemed like the logical conclusion.”
Growing up in a cycle of instability, surrounded by homelessness and systems that never seemed to listen, she learned early to stop asking for help.
“I started to get this complex of I have to do everything on my own, that I can’t trust other people to do things for me,” she explains.
“Before New Door, I just had this weird sense of guilt.”
That feeling—that it was all up to her—nearly derailed her education. What made the difference, she says now, was having someone in her corner.
Through its Postsecondary Education Program, Audreyana was connected with Catita, a Postsecondary Education Advocate, who became more than a resource—she became a mentor and someone Audreyana could trust to show up.
“With Catita, I knew she was being genuine,” Audreyana says.
“She was willing to go the extra mile for me—and that felt good— but she didn’t’ make it seem like she was going the extra mile. It just seemed like a given.”
That kind of presence, Catita explains, is the point. “It’s very important to just have someone in your corner who is compassionate—someone who just like, ‘Let’s go through this together and figure it out,’” she says. “For me, it was really helpful and that’s why I got into this work.”
New Door’s postsecondary education program supports young adults in navigating and exploring higher education opportunities. The program offers tailored resources and one-on-one guidance to assist youth in applying and succeeding in the community college system.
With support, Audreyana began to find her footing. She enrolled at San Francisco City College to study biology. She began speaking with more clarity about her goals and started asking—not apologizing—for the support and resources she needed.
“Her biggest area of growth was her confidence,” says Catita. “I know it is just who Audrey always was in her core, but she needed the space, capacity, tools and the reminders that she is this confident person and that she can do these things.”
College hasn’t magically become easy. There are still unknowns. But the difference now is that Audreyana isn’t navigating them alone.
“I am actually working towards something but also with the knowledge that there are people who want me to succeed and who will help me succeed,” she says.
That shift has changed her outlook. “I feel like after everything I’ve been through at New Door so far, I feel welcome, I have a place here and I don’t have to earn it. I am just as capable as the people around me.”
Biology is the goal. But hope, she says, is what she needed to get this far. “I feel like I was asking for hope whenever I was asking for help. And I just feel like I’ve found that now.”
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