When Quay Longs started school at Florida Gulf Coast University ten years ago, he became the first in his family to go to college.
But it didn’t last long. Quay eventually dropped out from FGCU after his uncle was shot and killed. For years, he didn’t think he would return.
Then he met Dr. Sandra Kauanui, the director of FGCU’s Institute for Entrepreneurship. After hearing Quay’s story, she offered him a spot in the school’s entrepreneurship program.
“He just about cried when we told him we could help him and you could tell it mattered a lot to him,” Kauanui said.
Kauanui also found scholarship money to cover the cost of Quay’s education.
“It made everything, ” Quay said. “She changed my life.”
Quay is now almost finished with his degree at FGCU and has created a program called Strive Hall, which motivates at-risk young adults.
It’s Quay’s way of returning the favor to others who have helped him.
“And that’s how you change the world – one kid at a time,” Kauanui said.
The post FGCU dropout returns to school, starts program to motivate at-risk young adults appeared first on NBC2 News.
