 Hello everyone, thank you for joining me on Think Tech Hawaii. I am Shonda Park, your host for Money Talks. I am a business owner and investor passionate about helping people understand how money works. Today, Brandon Loresco is back on the show to continue talking about college planning. He is a certified college consultant for over five years and he has helped many families including mine in college planning, scholarships, and so much more. Brandon Loresco has a tremendous amount of experience both personally and professionally in helping people and continuing to educate families. And he will continue to share with you today valuable information on financially planning for college that can help families go from zero to millions with financial education. So Brandon, welcome back to the show. Yeah, hi Aloha, thank you Shonda for having me back. It's great to be here for another time just spend more time looking at scholarships for college planning. Yeah, so on our first show, we were heavily focused on the FASTA because people were able to apply starting from October 1st, correct? Correct, the application opened in October and that was for the FASTA application and we also spent some time highlighting how we could help those who are already accumulating some student loans with the debt relief plan that has also opened up. And yes, now that we looked at the financial need base and looking at the financial side of FASTA, we can start looking at the scholarship journey today. Okay, wonderful. And if the viewers have no idea about what we're talking about in regards to the FASTA, you can go ahead and watch the first episode and then continue on with this here. But Brandon, I wanted to focus in the start of this how you got started with learning about college planning and at what age did this start for you? Yeah, that's a great question. So when I started college planning and looking at how I can consider myself building my portfolio, it all started in my intermediate years. So there's a public school program called AVID. So I joined the program back in my seventh grade and when I went into high school, I continued on. But I would say the more serious planning for college and the scholarship planning side came into my junior year where I actually transitioned out from AVID to attend an academic rigorous program called International Baccalaureate. So doing this academic rigorous program, I was busy in school and I went outside of school to seek extra advice and guidance. So that's where I came across the college coaching program where I work alongside today and that has helped me with looking into the scholarship side and the FASTA side. Wow, as early as intermediate school, well, we call the intermediate school back then, right? I believe it's middle school now. Yeah, so you started then and then you were part of a college coaching program in high school? All right, so I went in my junior year of high school and that's when I began all my serious planning, looking at actual college I want to go into how I can start translating my experience into essays. So today I do wanna spend some time talking about the journey of going through scholarship. So we'll look at my journey myself, applying for scholarships as well as some tips and I will share even if there's time, look at some example scholarships for you guys. But when I look at planning for college and the cost, I would say it's all about knowing the game and that is scholarships come with the applications, the interviews, the essays and what are people gonna talk about? They're gonna be talking about themself, their own personal brand. So if I could share with you some pictures I have up for my high school years, these are actually things that I was involved in that kinda help formulate, build up my brand, talk about who I was, doing things from leadership where I did class council and that's the first picture on the bottom and that was one of my first leadership conferences. I attended those, I did some community service with Leo Club on the left and I even did some tennis, soft tennis and varsity tennis in my three years of high school on the right. So it's all about trying to spend more time and encouraging students and children to just be involved, find your passions, find your interests so that you can build up your story to share with all of these great opportunities of scholarships and colleges. So to be involved in as much activities as possible and leadership ones are very important as well, not just sports. Yes, correct. There's many ways that we can be involved whether it be doing an internship, a job shadowing, student leadership, we could also do music, sports, community service if I haven't mentioned that already. And I wanna share that all of these is just having fun with your friends, having fun with your friends, being able to translate that to scholarships where I was able to be awarded 400,000 and also use, actually use 100,000 towards my schooling. But I think the greatest thing about being involved and trying to prepare for these scholarships was my mindset as a teenager. As a teenager, I didn't wanna be home and I didn't wanna be around my family all the time. So that's why I found so many avenues and different ways I could be involved. Just stay late after school, go out somewhere on the weekends, do some activities, and the best part is making friends, building relationships and then translating it to money for college. And getting to get out of the house early in the morning before school, you're having the kids come home late at night, having the opportunity to go out on the weekends and offer good reasons. And so tell me about that. After the high school experience and you were able to learn all of this about college planning and be part of a college coaching program and then be awarded a $400,000 in scholarships. Yes, that $400,000 is, most of it is different institutions giving me scholarship based on my merit and my resume. But the biggest one was my full tuition to Hoi Pesofi University. So that was actually a special program that they released for my year that if you're to solve a community problem, talk about it and see what kind of project you have, then they'll award certain number of students to get four years to attend Hoi Pesofi University. So I did my project based on solving the problem in the financial education side. So schools are not really teaching finance and it kind of related with where I was interning at the time, the work hand in hand. And that's how I was thankfully able to be awarded that full tuition. So you got the full tuition of $100,000 for Hoi Pesofi University and it was with that project of solving a problem? Yes, around $100,000 for writing, it was like an essay process, almost like a shark tank where we had to do a lot of research paper, we had to do phases of what are we gonna present? And then the actual other thousands came from outside scholarships. So scholarships I got from private foundations, public organizations, alumni foundations and all of those has equaled into the money that was awarded through my years in attending HPU. That's amazing, you got to solve a community problem and with that get a full tuition awarded to you. Yeah, yeah, that's really amazing. And I know another opportunity that you had with HPU was being able to study abroad. And that's something that many college students don't get to do, it's a very low percentage. Right, a low percentage students actually go out to broaden their horizons and get an education abroad outside the US. And I was very fortunate to get that experience because when I thought about college, I was looking for the best college that could allow me to go study abroad as soon as possible and as many times as I want. Cause most universities are only gonna allow you to study once and that's in your last two years of your schooling. But thankfully the schools on this island, especially HPU has allowed me to study abroad in two different universities in the same country and be able to do that not as late in my years but as early as my sophomore year, my second year in college. So I actually do have some pictures of those as well. So the first one is my first Korean university. I went in fall 2017 and this is an exchange program. I was actually able to use my tuition scholarship from HPU to pay for this program. And I got extra scholarships in foreign dorming. They reimbursed my flight and they also gave me a weekly stipend. So over there you can see I was able to experience the change of seasons, the color of leaves changing and I got to see the snow. And what's really funny is in the right picture, that's actually my suite. We had a room of 12 students, nine were Korean and then one was Chinese and two were American including myself. But it was a wonderful experience that I loved it so much the first time I went the second time. So in the next set of pictures I went to Korea for a different university. So in the next slide I have my, the second university was in the city side. So I was in the country earlier. I took a break, did a spring semester back at home and I went fall 2018 back into Korea. So I was pursuing business, international business, finance and the next slide I have is also some experiences I had. So just making connections, building relationships with different people and you get to see that I also lived with some of my roommates' families. I was able to experience the daily life for them, be able to travel to the highest mountains, go to different ports from flying, ferries and seeing that Korea was a great way for me to experience the not only the cultural aspect but also see the business economy booming and seeing all the companies rise. All while getting a college education. That was phenomenal. Yes, it was a wonderful experience and I think that traveling as a student is one of the most cost efficient ways because there are so many different scholarships that can help one for that experience. So traveling as a adult you get to pay for your own vacation but you get to use scholarships to help build that experience to gain an education in another country and be with other like-minded people who want to learn with you, want to grow with you and you get to keep those relationships down the road. Yeah, it looks like you had a wonderful family, 12 of you in your room in your squeeze. That's really amazing. And most people when they travel they travel for a week or two, maybe three weeks even up to a month but for six months to be able to experience another country and be able to get that, to be able to get to do that twice. Again, phenomenal. I felt so much that, it was a little dilemma for me in my after that first semester traveling abroad I was like, oh, did I want to go back right away? But I was like, oh, my family is back at home they actually have a company vacation that we're going to go on. So I went back to go with them on that company vacation just so that I could finish that one semester here and go to another university to study abroad longer. And where was that trip at? That was in Vietnam. So in, I think it was spring 2018 I went to Vietnam with our company. So it was great to not only help people with financial education further more but also just enjoy the lifestyle of being a proud American to be able to travel anywhere. But that was a great experience as well. Nice. So Korea to back home, Hawaii and then Vietnam back home, Hawaii and then back to Korea. Yeah, so it was a crazy first couple of years in college. Yeah. So tell us about the financial aspects of studying abroad and how you were able to get awarded for that, that opportunity. All right. So if people are looking into studying abroad for their education, just know that there's different ways that we can go about it. You know, Hawaii Pacific University has partner schools. So that's one example that they can help with the cost. So exchange schools, partner schools are going to allow you to go to another school and be able to use the tuition scholarships or just pay for your home-based tuition. So I'm paying for each tuition to attend another university but any outside costs like the living expense, meals, flying, you know, those are out of my pocket. But thankfully that first university allowed me to get those paid for, reimburse and even give me a living allowance because I was a cultural ambassador. So I was sharing the American culture, helping people learn their English, learn about Hawaii. And it was a great way for me to, you know, build relationships with local Korean students over there and be able to still get a wonderful time, not worrying about the financial side or traveling abroad. Yeah, that is really wonderful. Next slide please. So let's talk about all the different types of scholarships out there. And, you know, thank you for sharing so much about studying abroad and getting financially funded for that. And I know that there's many other different types of scholarships. Right, so this is a great tip. Different types of scholarships from Merit Base, which is your academic, all the way for talent, gender, ethnicity, employer, community service and even athletes. So, you know, there are so many different types. I know we spend a great deal looking at the financial need base aid, but, you know, after doing your FAASA, you can get some scholarships depending on your eligibility. So that's in the financial need base. But for you to look at all these other scholarships, for example, background, minority, ethnicity, so those that deal with like your race and nationality, are you Hawaiian, are you Filipino, Asian, African-American? But even looking at, you know, where our students and their parents were, you know, their employers can actually offer scholarships for dependents. And I think one of the most scholarships I got minds from was the community service side. So, you know, I love finding ways to just stay active, try to be, try to help the community that's helping me from tutoring, to beach cleanups and working with community service clubs. So, those have really contributed to my smaller scholarships that I was able to get, as well as translating, you know, all of my other experiences from my internship into the career interest scholarship. So, these are just to name a few, but, you know, that is a great- A lot more than that? Yeah, there could be more. It was a great way to start. There's so many different types of scholarships. How do people focus on which ones to choose to apply for and which ones to choose to apply for first? Yeah, so we do have the next tip. So, the next tip would be small is a new big. And we get to see that, hey, if there are some big ticket scholarships, you know, there are some big name ones where companies are offering $100,000 and so forth. Just think that even though it's a great amount of money, there's gonna be a lot of students. Lots of students applying for that big money scholarship. So, it's gonna be very competitive. So, what we should do is we should allow ourselves to apply to the smaller ones, like the $400, $500, $1,000, because all of those do add up. So, in my experience, the extra scholarships I got was $1,000 from our foundation, another one with the Alumni Foundation, another 1,000 with like a business interest and another 1,000 for community service. So, I had extra $4,000 my first year and all those scholarships was able to help fund for my costs, my extra costs of schooling. And I was able to actually get refunded the money to use it for other living expenses, such as getting a laptop, paying for meals, buying, because being in downtown meals can be expensive. So, I was able to enjoy lifestyle and just understanding that every scholarship is worth applying for, if you're eligible. Nice, it is. And I remember when my daughter was in a college coaching program to get her to Western Oregon University, part of that planning was writing different essays and having a library of essays. And for that reason, to be able to just have your library of essays to just send out to all these scholarships that come out. Yes, and that's just making sure that we can be able to apply for all these little scholarships that do add up because schooling is just one thing. You still gotta pay for the cost of the books, the cost of living somewhere, the gas and everything else. But I do have one last tip I wanna show and that is just knowing the competition level. It's a great way to bridge everything together. Knowing that, hey, there is gonna be some national scholarships, those across North America and US, there'll be some scholarships for the state level, just for those in Hawaii, just for those who live in California are gonna go to school in California. As well as some local scholarships that are for maybe a smaller community that you live in, a city, an area, a district. And I hope that we can spend some time at the very end that I'll show you some scholarships that you can actually apply to. Okay, great. Thank you for sharing that. And I know besides your story, you helped one of your friends with an amazing scholarship opportunity that she was awarded. So did you wanna go ahead and share that next? Yeah, so this is my friend, Sarah, who lives in Honolulu or she was born and raised here in the West Side and she's now studying in Arizona. So I do have that video I wanna play and you guys can listen to her story. Hi, my name is Sarah Thompson. I'm Brandon's friend. Me and him went to Campbell High School together and we graduated in 2016. Right after graduation, I went straight into college. I went to George Fox University in Oregon and graduated with my Bachelors of Science in biology and I graduated in 2020. I'm currently in med school right now. So I took two years off after graduating college. I'm going to AT Still University. It's in Arizona, but the good thing about this school is that they always send students off to community health centers around the nation. So I'm actually coming home for my last three years. When you're going to med school or any healthcare professional program, we just know that the end goal of our career, we're going to be financially stable. So whatever we have to do to get there, we're gonna do it. So I already was expecting to take out loans. Our tuition here is a little bit over 60,000 a year, but for this year alone, I did have to take out about $85,000 just for the school year. And that includes more than just our tuition. That's my health insurance because I had to get through the school. That includes my rent, my gas, my food and just like additional educational review things that I need. Brandon actually told me about the National Health Scholars scholarship. And fortunately, I just got awarded the scholarship. The nice thing about this scholarship is that it covers my tuition in like completely. I just signed my contract for the scholarship to cover all four years of med school. So I'm not gonna have any loans anymore. I'm working with my financial aid office to return the loans that I took out. And the nice thing about the scholarship is not only do they cover our tuition, they provide additional monthly stipends for our monthly living expenses. So that's gonna help with my rents, my gas, my food. And they also provide additional money for any educational review things that we need. It's really nice. I'm really grateful and thankful for it. I'm not gonna have any loans by the time I graduate. I was expecting to have over a quarter million dollars in loans and now I won't. And thank you for having me. Brandon, wow, that's so amazing because I can tell that it's information that she had no idea about. And if it wasn't for you telling her about this scholarship and educating her on it and giving her this information and encouraging her to apply for it, she was taking over 80,000 a year. And now because of the information you provided her, she has the whole four years of her med school covered and she can return that loan. How does that make you feel? You know, it's just amazing to help a friend that we both were in this journey of applying for scholarships in high school. And I got to give props to her because she did all the work, she did everything from her experience, getting a job, knowing what she wants to do and getting into the right schools. And it's just being in the community of people that you can trust, people who can be willing to help you. And that's just what I wanna do. I wanna be able to be a small part in someone's bigger change and their impacts and whether it be helping them financially and education and helping them with the college planning side, I hope that I could be a resource and a friend and a consultant or coach to help them with the guidance. And that's sometimes we just need that person to help guide us through the process. Yeah, and I don't think that she will see you as a small part. When she graduates with no loans to pay back, I'm sure she's gonna reflect on what a big part you played in that. So that's so wonderful. Yes, and I think I do wanna mention just one part of her story. So this is actually things I had to cut up to make time for the show, but she actually shared that, hey, the things I did in high school, maybe I wasn't interested in all of these activities. I was doing it because my friends are doing it and we're doing it for college. But when you get to that college level and you go into different universities, now you're more exposed to different professions. Now you can meet professors who are working in that background. And that's when you can find things that really relate to you. So I hope everyone's just spent time being involved, finding their interests, doing different activities so that they could find what really is something that they're passionate about so that they can follow and take suit when they go to college or in their careers. Yes, that is a great tip. And any other tips that you have for the viewers today? Yes, I do have maybe three quick tips for scholarships for people. The first one is, hey, why don't you just go to your college and career center and go to your counselor because there's a lot of scholarships that are strictly given to them to distribute to their students and to their network. So go to your counselor, be best friends with them and just really get to know them because they do have their great wealth of knowledge that they could help you out with. But I do have two different pictures I wanna show you guys. So the first one is the Alumni Foundation. So this is actually one of the scholarships that I receive and I work with them now, being a board of director. So just volunteering my time, the James Campbell High School Alumni Foundation, these are example of high school foundations that give scholarships to their seniors and our alumni. So even just this past year, we gave out over $20,000 to different students of different backgrounds to going to their undergrad and master's degree. But I also have the next slide that I wanna show which is looking at the state level. You guys can look at the Hawaii Community Foundation. They're another great resource and their application is gonna open up in mid-November, I believe. But there you get to find how you could do like one common application that can help, mass send it to other different scholarships. So those are my tips and I hope you guys could take advantage of those. Yes, I'm sure that the viewers will take advantage of all the information that you so generously provided and being able to hear your own personal experience and your journey and how you came across about learning all these different college planning tools and to be able to see a testimony how much you helped a friend. And I know that it's a lot of information. College planning is so much information. Even with two shows, I know that there's still so much to cover. So if you want any more information, please feel free to contact Brandon Larisco and he can share more information with you and possibly even help you just as he helped his friend. And so thank you again, Brandon, for being on the show and thank you all for watching Money Talk. See you on the next episode. Aloha.