As a few of my colleagues know, I’ve been working on remodeling a bathroom as a surprise Christmas present to my parents. On Christmas Eve, I had gone to IKEA to look for new furnishings and a few other items.
Upon checkout, I overheard a family behind me, where the parents were bargaining with their teenage son. As a non-parent, I easily recall being in the same situation of “Mom, I need this,” or hearing “we can’t afford this right now”.
I asked if they were buying things for college, and they confirmed – the son had been accepted, but waitlisted since last year, for the Spring semester of 2017 at UMCP. He had been working full-time in order to be able to pay for his own tuition, room, and board.
Paying for college on my own (still am, loans suck!), I know I could’ve used a little extra myself to help out during those tough times.
I once again had another opportunity to use the remaining $200 RAK money; which in turn will be used for an education at a University system I take great pride in. I explained to the parents what ARG does, our 25th anniversary, the RAK program, and my intent to donate the $200 towards their purchases.
Albeit confused (I don’t really explain things well verbally), they understood the generosity and were extremely thankful.
This RAK’s for the future Terp Alumni – cheers!
– Jason Ak
