Welcome to Students Incorporated. I'm your host,
Mr. Jason. Join me weekly as my team and I produce
content that's informative, positive, fun, and
uplifting. This podcast is created and produced
with the help of students from the International
Community School of Bangkok. Hey everyone, and
welcome back to the show. We have a very informative
and loaded first segment for this episode. We'll
be talking about the financial aid process for
attending and affording college. We have several
guest students and a parent of one of the students
talk about their process and their journey. Then
for segment two, we'll continue with our adventure
story, Legends of the Yucatan Part 7 of a 10
-part story. But first, let's kick things off
with our quote of the day and hear some headline
news. Our quote of the day comes from Che Spivey,
an American author, a scholarship coach, and
a social worker. She's quoted to have said, education
changes lives and scholarships makes it affordable.
The court highlights the transformative power
of education and the critical role of scholarships
that plays in making it accessible. By acknowledging
that education can be a life -changing force,
the court emphasises the importance of financial
aid in bridging the gap between potential and
achievement. Scholarships are framed not just
as financial tools, but as enablers. that opens
doors for individuals who may otherwise be excluded
due to economic barriers. The simplicity and
positivity of the quote reinforce its message,
serving as both motivation for students seeking
aid and recognition of the essential support
that scholarships provide. And that's our quote
of the day. Now onto some headline news with
Mia. Thank you for our quote of the day, Frank.
For today's headline news, here are some big
scholarship opportunities in top universities
in the US, Thailand, and the UK. To start off,
we have Harvard. Starting in the 2025 to 2026
academic year, Harvard will offer free tuition
to undergraduate students from families earning
$200 ,000 or less annually. Additionally, students
from families making $100 ,000 or less will have
all billed expenses covered. That includes tuition,
housing, meals, health insurance, and travel
costs. This initiative aims to make Harvard more
accessible to a broader range of students. Next
off, Thulalongkorn University in the heart of
Bangkok is offering fully funded scholarships
for international students to pursue master's
and PhD degrees in various disciplines. The scholarships
cover tuition fees, living expenses, and other
academic costs. The application deadline is May
8, 2025, so hurry up if you're interested. Finally,
the University of of Westminster, in collaboration
with the UK government's GREAT or Great Britain
Campaign and the British Council, is offering
a £10 ,000 scholarship towards tuition fees for
a one -year master's program starting in September
2025. This scholarship is specifically available
to students from Thailand. The application deadline
is June 23, 2025. And that ends our headline
news for this episode. Thank you for the quote
and headline news. In this first segment, we'll
be talking about how to pay for college. This
is a big issue for parents and students. And
let's face it, it's expensive. Financial aid
process for attending and affording college is
a big deal. We'll have one of our very own podcast
team members, Premi, and her father on for this
segment to discuss their journey and give an
overview and advice on how to afford a college
education in the United States. We'll also hear
briefly from a few other students about their
experience with colleges outside the United States
and what their journey looked like. Okay, Premi,
go ahead and get us started with this first segment.
Thank you so much. I'm Premi, and I've been on
the team for the past two seasons, the first
season or season two. I was a co -host and a
writer, and on this season, I am the production
team leader. And I'm so excited to be talking
about this today. And just speaking on the podcast,
she was like, oh, it is nostalgic and I love
it. And in terms of university, I have always
wanted to pursue an English major as well as
like maybe like an ethics, politics, economics,
or also a woman's gender sexuality is minor.
In terms of looking ahead for university, I've
always wanted to study in the United States.
And so a lot of my target universities was just
looking into a liberal arts college that could
offer this interdisciplinary like area and study
and also like a more smaller focused liberal
arts college that I feel like I would fit in
the culture and also just everything else. And
in terms of affording college. Personally, I
do have a more complicated financial situation,
which we will definitely get into. And I will
be sharing everything that I've learned over
the past two years. And today, I have my dad
joining us. And if you can introduce yourself
really quickly, dad. Sure. My name is Paul, premier's
dad. Yes, the decision of attending and affording
college for students is very much a decision
that is often helpful. When you share with the
support system family, it is important to gather
all financial components of the college application
process as well. We need both personal financial
data and your company data if you own your business.
Thank you, Dad. And I think just a quick breakdown
for like mind map. And this is specifically for
affording colleges in the U .S. And just like
as a brief like just disclaimer. I think this
process is going to look different for everyone
depending on so many different factors such as
citizenship, financial need, strength of profile,
and like family circumstances and complexities.
So to start off with, like this is the breakdown
mind map that I'll go to. First of all, the question
is, do you need financial aid? Are you able,
as your family, do you have means to support?
$400 ,000, almost approximately $400 ,000 for
a private institution in the U .S. for a bachelor's
degree. If the answer is no, you don't need that,
then you're good to go. And what you would have
to do is apply and get in, and you'd be able
to go. For those folks that do need financial
support, the first question is if you are a United
States citizen or eligible permanent resident.
If you are, then make sure you apply to federal
aid and institutional aid. this next question
of yes if you are a citizen for the next question
is if you believe that you feel that you have
a strong enough applicant profile if you do then
go for top 20s go for ivy league ivy league universities
because those universities will meet your 100
demonstrated need -based aid and it would be
great for you to apply to a lot of the merit
scholarships offered at t20s out as well and
the next question after that is if you won Needed
financial aid 2. You are a citizen or eligible
permanent resident. three have a great or strong
enough applicant portfolio and the last question
is if you have you know the typical family circumstances
if you do then you will meet 100 % demonstrated
need but if you do not and that is where my personal
situation falls into then your situation would
be either the merit scholarships that you may
have received or maybe taking out loans or financing
your college education in other ways and then
outside of that if you do not For U .S. citizens,
if you do not have a strong portfolio, I would
recommend to find colleges, local colleges or
state colleges, community colleges, as well as
just taking advantage of any in -state privileges
or benefits that you may have in getting in,
as well as affording it. And for international
students, if you do have a great... portfolio
then I would recommend doing the same for because
some very specific very few universities and
colleges but some would take 100 % demonstrating
need for both international and domestic students
so look out for those and look out for MERT scholarships
as well and the last thing I'll say for international
students is also make sure that you explore all
other options in Asia and in Europe in Canada
Australia I know that the U .S. is not your only
location for college in a college education Yes,
as we are the parent, if you come from Thai family,
you can provide data from revenue department
from Thai like Phong or Do Kao Soon like this.
You can translate in English. That's acceptable.
And moreover, you can prepare like a financial
data from your bank or your bank statement to
support your financial to prove that your kids
need a fund. thank you so much and one quick
note before we get started i know i gave that
brief overview but To make sure that a lot of
this will be understood and understood easily,
I do want to say that the other part is going
to be equality. As I mentioned before, the different
factors, right? Some people don't need financial
aid. Some students are U .S. citizens. Some students
have residency. Some students are first generation
and low income. And there's also so many different
indirect factors like race or ethnicity or passport
that might make the process easier or more difficult
for some. I think the bottom line through all
of it is just to know that it is hard and it
is hard to compare when other students you feel
might have it easier than you in the college
apps process. But just persevere and everything
will turn out OK in the end. And also the other
note is I try to be as comprehensive as possible
as a team in this episode to cover as many things
as we can that would be helpful. I would apologize
beforehand for missing any other possible avenues
for a foreign college or not being considerate
of other factors or circumstances that aren't
personal to me. I think throughout this episode,
you'll see that a lot of a lot of this is or
we talk about like situations for divorced families
a lot. And that is because it is a factor that's
personal to me. So it's something that I always
have to keep into account. But for different
factors that I might not have had to, I would
apologize beforehand for not having been able
to do that. That said. we can start with a more
detailed breakdown of all the different ways
that you can, depending on so many factors that
you can do to finance your college education.
Mr. Jason, could you tell our listeners about
institutional scholarships? Sure. The first type
is institutional scholarships, like Premi said.
These are scholarships or grants that colleges
and universities offer themselves, and they're
usually based on either financial need, or academic
merit. In most cases, institutional aid is where
you're going to get the biggest chunk of help
when it comes to paying for college. And then
the next type is called needs -based institutional
scholarships. This means that the aid you receive
directly from the university is based on factors
such as parents' income, parents' assets like
cash, savings, home equity, real estate, and
investments. family size, number of children
attending college, students' expected income
from summer and term time jobs, and students'
assets and more. So there's a lot of different
variety of things that go into this needs -based
institutional scholarships, which means you've
got to do a lot of homework before you apply
for these. Thank you, Mr. Jason. That's right.
For the majority of universities in the U .S.,
Most don't have capacity to offer 100 % need.
Instead, many universities offer a mix of the
need -based aid and merit -based aid, with amount
varying depending on applicant profile, citizenship
status. For the most prestigious and secure university,
instead, in order to ensure your students are
able to attend if accepted, offer what is called
100 % need. In our case, for Duke or Yale. They
only provide us financial needs, right? Some
universities, they consider only my data because
I'm a custodian parent, but some universities
need both custodian parents and non -custodian
needs. Like a primary mother, she works in the
U .S., so we need to send them form 1065, form
1012 for K2W2 also. Here's how it works. Call
and look at your total cost of attendance or
COA. That's tuition, room, book, boards, anything
else. Substract what they think your family can
reasonably contribute. They call EFC. And whatsoever
left is your demonstrated need. They will cover
100 % of that need. That's formula COA minus
EFC equals your aid. It's often a mad breakdown.
Example, if you COA is 100K, right? But if you
prove that your family EFC only 50K, so they
provide support you only 50K, right? In our case,
some colleagues do not support on the basis the
revenue because our premier mother, she work
in the US, right? Because she got a personal
revenue and her. company revenue also yeah thank
you thank you dad and yes and thank you mr jason
that is essentially how um institutional scholarships
um especially in particularly need -based institutional
scholarships work and to dive into that in order
to qualify for this institutional um institutional
based institution no need -based institutional
scholarships you would have to fill out the css
profile which is also stands for the college
um college scholarship service profits profile
and this is this application is through college
board and i think most students will be already
familiar with college board through registering
for the sat the ap exams and more and this css
profile is over 200 questions and i can say that
like my father and i like we sat down for like
several several sundays to like make sure that
everything is filled out And again, as mentioned,
it takes parents' income, parents' assets like
cash, savings, home equity, family size, number
of children, students' expected income, assets,
and more. And also I think siblings, I remember
like one particular section was particularly
comprehensive because I have four younger siblings
and we had to list out all their names, all their
ages, all their education. And for each sibling,
we had to list out their... previous or like
last year's tuition and all expenses current
year tuition and all expenses and future current
future tuition and expenses for like five different
times for all of us so that was particularly
like labor intensive but and essentially the
css profile is an online application used by
colleges scholarship programs toward non -federal
institutional aid and For international students,
the CSS profile automatically converts Thai baht
to U .S. dollars. Yes, that is maybe an add -on.
Because Thai baht and dollars fluctuate, they
don't fit the exchange rate. So we don't know
yet how many Thai baht we could convert to the
tuition in dollars. That's one thing. Yeah, that
was one thing. I think when we did it, we just
chose a standard unit of conversion. We stuck
with that, even though it did fluctuate. I think
for international, or like... parents making
income from internationally to afford to afford
a college education in the u .s it's also important
to remember like the purchasing power will be
definitely different and sometimes it is taken
into account and sometimes it is not and a note
on divorced or separated parents you would have
to make a separate profile for your non -custodial
parent and by that that means you need to create
a whole other college board account and that
that process was a bit confusing to me so like
to put it out there that is what you need to
do and the other thing is the css profile For
non -custodial parent fee waivers, and this is
for maybe divorced or separated parents, but
you do not have contact, or there are certain
factors, like you don't have contact, or you
have never received any support from your non
-custodial parent, or there have been legal orders
that restrict you from contacting your non -custodial
parent, or the other way around, or abuse situations
involving you and the non -custodial parent.
And in that case, supporting documents would
be helpful. For instance, court documents, legal
orders, if acceptable, as well as third parties.
documentation like a written statement or a letter
from counselor social worker teacher or clergy
who has firsthand knowledge about and can certify
your situation that is particularly important
for divorced families with like a non -custodial
parent that might be out of the picture and the
other the the other factor i will say is willingness
to pay or refusing to complete the CSS profile,
or a divorce decree. These factors are more subjective
and will be up to the institution. But willingness
to pay, I can say, will mostly not be accepted.
And in situations like this, for instance, your
parents have set out a budget for 20k a year
for your college education. But in reality, their
numbers, their tax forms, their W -2s show that
they can pay more than that. And that willingness
to pay as a factor will not be accepted. And
ultimately, each institution would make its own
decision in regards to the non -custodial parent
fee waiver and would reach out if more information
is required and the submission of the waiver
does not guarantee if it will be accepted and
i think just like a quick little part that i
find ironic sometimes is that to in order to
apply and qualify for institutional you would
need to pay for this application and it is 25
as of current 2025 it is $25 for the initial
initial application and it is $16 for each college
profile you send up to them And additionally,
for that non -custodial separate CSS profile,
it is $25 as well. And when it adds up, if you
apply to Twin Colleges, it adds up really quickly
in addition to the application fee itself. And
to also put it out there, there are certain fee
waivers available for both parts. So if you might
qualify, make sure you reach out and make sure
that you would receive that aid. All right. That
is a great explanation. And there's a lot of
great detail in there. And Premi is the first
one in her family that's going through this process.
She has four younger siblings. And so she's kind
of blazing the trail for their family. So, I
mean, this is so many details if you want to
go to a college in the United States and you're
looking for financial aid. So you can always
reach out to someone who's gone before you. So
Premi's kind of blazing the trail in her family
and they're figuring this out. But there's lots
of information that needs to be gathered. So
let me jump ahead on this idea of CSS. So once
you fill out the CSS, which stands for the College
Scholarship Service, you might also be asked
to submit supporting documents through something
called the IDOC. And that's short for Institutional
Documentation Service. Some colleges participate
in IDOC or IDOC, while others have their own
portals where you'll upload tax returns, W -2s,
or other paperwork. Just be aware it takes about
three to five business days for IDOC to process
things after you get a code from the college
board, which can take up to a day. Remember,
there's a lot of details in here. So bottom line,
don't procrastinate. Missing deadlines can delay
your aid or reduce how much you're offered. Always
double check your college's financial aid checklist
and make sure you've submitted everything. The
other kind of caveat to this is these things
could change year after year. So just make sure
you're checking up on all those details and the
deadlines as well. Thank you, Mr. Jackson. And
if you are a high -achievement student from a
low -income background, there is another awesome
opportunity that you look into, like QuestBridge.
This is an incredible non -profit that provides
with a partner with 55 colleges, including Life
Safety, Liberal Arts School, two other full -rate
house food fees and more. Some colleges even
account for your insurance and also Some programs
like National College are matched. A student
can earn admission and a full four -year scholarship
with zero parental contribution and no student
loan also. Yeah. And no loan, they are college
prep also, right? They're fortunate. They can
help you prep early, even connect you with summer
program also, mentoring and more. Yes, that's
right. And I think this goes to show that like
it is especially and I would say especially if
you're applying with financial aid or for financial
aid, there are so many opportunities out there
and some of them start as early as your junior
year. So make sure you reach out, make sure you
don't miss out on any of these cool opportunities
and resources. And QuestBridge in particular
that you mentioned is need based and merit based
to have a super strong applicant profile and
you also qualify for that. need -based and it
is wonderful it is such a wonderful program and
if you qualify definitely look into it it is
a game changer and to talk to move on from this
the merit to from the need -based component to
more merit -based full rides as i mentioned especially
at top 20s in the united states so for u .s citizens
and internationals as a whole there are many
colleges that offer full ride or full tuition
and to name some just to throw them out there
so you can start doing your research and just
to know that there are a vast array of possibilities
washu has the has three signature scholarships
rodriguez danforth irvine they're all full tuition
scholarships emory is full ride scholarship uh
woodruff's program and even if you don't if you're
a finalist and you don't get or you don't get
the full ride scholarship they still offer like
the liberal arts college scholarships and more
and the unc morehead cane is a full ride and
plus for like fully paid summers and more and
that is similar to the uva uva's jefferson's
program as well as well as duke's but duke is
a specific um outside outside scholarship um
called the robertson and is joint with unc and
unc chapel and duke vanderbilt has three full
tuition scholarships as well cornelius chancellors
and the ingram scholarship rice university has
one boston university has a full full tuition
trustee scholarship and a half tuition presidential
scholarship boston college and so many more and
i would definitely recommend if you are in a
position to be eligible for such or need such
to search up comprehensive lists on the internet
and there are spreadsheets of all different colleges
offering full rides and full scholarships. And
I would also, I think a little note is also to
be able to differentiate between scholarship
only and scholarship programming. The scholarship
only is similar to a full ride or full tuition
where all that the scholarship entails is just
a minus 100k or whatever amount it is on your
cost of attendance that will be deducted from
you. Whereas scholarship programming, And this
is applicable, for instance, like UNC or WashU
or UVA, Emory, or Duke's, Robertson. These colleges
would have scholarship programming. And that
means an alumni network built in, a community
built in, maybe an office on campus built in.
And for some scholarship programming, they will
have stipends or they will have funding for all
your summer experiences. And that is definitely
something to look into as well and something
to differentiate if you're offered many. My piece
of advice specifically for this is that most
of the scholarships, merit -based scholarships,
would require more essays. And a lot of this
would be meeting the deadline. And this is often
before your regular decision deadline in January.
Most of these scholarships require you to be
on your game and to apply for these as early
as November. And November 1st, November 15th,
November 30th, December 1st. And all these deadlines
are important because if you miss that deadline,
you might not qualify for this merit -based scholarship
that would have been a game changer in your college
decision process and just to do everything that
you can to meet the scholarship program director
to meet and chat with current scholars and alumni
because with these scholarship programs every
little thing counts and also I think if you do
are if you are in a position that you have received
one to be proud of yourself it is so incredibly
difficult to get a merit base it is so hard to
get a full ride or full tuition to an institution
and would i would argue that sometimes it is
more it is more difficult than just getting into
like a top five or an ivy league institutions
because there are such there is such a selective
few spots offered and there's such a big such
competitive and like everyone is a qualified
applicant pool and I think a note on applying
RD this is such an important goal that I think
so many people miss and it is so sad is that
you need to understand the goal and the purpose
of these full rights or full tuition scholarships
the goal is for an for an applicant that has
such a strong profile that would probably get
into Ivy League institutions or Stanford MIT
as such and the goal of these scholarships is
for top 20s like guashu vanderbilt rice for these
these institutions to offer merit -based scholarship
as a motivation inspiration for those students
that might have otherwise gone otherwhere elsewhere
to go to stay in their college for that and kind
of in other words investing in their potential
so if you were to have applied ed or ea to some
of these colleges offering offering merit scholarships
they would be they might be less It might be
more reluctant to give you these scholarships
if they know that you're binded to go to the
institution other than another institution elsewhere.
And that is what I will say on that. So to make
sure that, as with everything, understand the
goal, understand the purpose, so you know how
to proceed and do what is best for you. And for
internationals, internationals would also say
you need to watch out for the time as well, because
it is important. And while... A lot of merit
scholarships would also offer U .S. and international
citizens. I can say from experience that the
international poll is so much smaller. For instance,
Emory's finalist program, there were about, I
think, like about 150 finalists that are U .S.
citizens or domestic. But for international finalist
applicants, there were only seven or around that
number. I think it is just... essentially more
difficult as an international student to receive
these merit scholarships. And there are some
very specific, some that offer scholarships only
for internationals. And I think a notable example
is the Wesleyan Asian Freeman Scholarship for
students of Asian descent and the Wesleyan African
Scholars Program. And for these scholarships,
you would not be eligible if you are a US citizen.
So some specific caveats of scholarships to look
out for. and the goal with the also with finalist
interviews as an international student you might
not be invited just because there aren't sufficient
funds for you to visit campus to have your finalist
interview in person so if it's virtual it's definitely
a different experience and I would caution you
to prepare for that very well as well and the
last thing I'll say for internationals is also
It is just essentially more difficult with it
is so much of college applications process is
already a crapshoot is so difficult. And it is
so it does not it is so hard to get into. And
it's just a game of luck, essentially. And so
much of this is also dependent on political climate,
current political climate or international relations
with the country that you are a citizen from.
So I think or like less quotas, less spots, less
seats available for international. So just as
a goal, we see you international students keep.
Keep working hard. It is very difficult. Okay,
so thank you, Premi, for those details, especially
for the students who aren't U .S. citizens. It's
really important that you kind of look at some
of those fine details of when you're applying
and how to apply. This idea of terms of like
institutional aid, including merit -based as
well as need -based. Well, moving on, there's
another avenue of aid that many U .S. citizens
and eligible permanent residents can seek help
in, and that's federal aid. Unfortunately, international
students are not eligible for this type of aid
because this aid comes directly from the U .S.
federal government. Federal funding is not as
extensive as institutional aid. Aspects include
the Pell Grant, which actually I received when
I was at university a long time ago. I received
a small Pell Grant amount. A Pell Grant is given
without the expectation that the student has
to return that money back. In other words, it's
simply money paid directly to the institution
of your choice, which will help reduce part of
that semester cost or the tuition cost. The Pell
Grant amount varies from year to year. For instance,
in the academic year starting in the fall, the
maximum Pell awarded is around $7 ,300. The Pell
Grant amount ranges from zero, you could get
a reply back that says zero, or up to $7 ,000.
$300, almost $400. Additionally, federal aid
can come in the form of both subsidized and unsubsidized
loans, with varying interest rates in terms of
repayment. The amount of the Pell Grant and the
loans are determined by the Student Aid Index,
or the SAI. Thank you, Mr. Jason, for Pell Grant.
You can also apply to receive federal aid through
FAFSA, stand for the Free Application for Federal
Student Aid. This is much shorter than CSS profile.
As I did this with Premiere, also as mentioned,
it's free. So there are no costs to apply. Eviction
looks perfect if your parents live together or
divorce, right? In our case, for this factor
form, we can use only cousin and parent. So they
transform our revenue type bar to the US to show
them that we need the support from the... From
the government, yeah. Yeah, thank you so much.
And I think it is in different or in complex
financial situations like mine, you can see the
discrepancy in the SAI calculator and the institutional
award awarded. And just really quickly, I'll
also make a note on outside scholarships. And
these are great scholarships, mostly merit -based.
And some are both need and merit based, but a
lot of them are just a mix of both. And these
outside scholarships are wonderful because you
can apply them directly to your institution regardless
of where you go. So they are not tied to you
get a scholarship at Duke. Therefore, you need
to go to Duke to get the scholarship. You can
use it anywhere. And unfortunately, this is limited
mostly to U .S. citizens and living and to U
.S. citizens living internationally. but mostly
it is available for permanent residents or just
high school students living in the U .S. and
U .S. territories. eligible. And just very many
scholarship search engines that I'll throw out
there. College Board has Wonderful One, FastWeb,
Bold .org, Scholarship, Owl, Niche, and more.
And the award amount or selection criteria is
very, very difficult. And a lot of these, the
online scholarship services platforms are based
on points. So how much you post, how much you
profile, how much you engage in the... So you
could argue that so much of it is not even based
on need or even merit. And they're really hard
to get. They're just a chance. block base and
i would say big scholarships and these are more
worthwhile to pursue in my opinion would be like
coca -cola scholarships burger king and the gate
scholarship and gate scholarship is wonderful
it is pillow eligible it is absolutely dollar
for dollar amount so it is a full ride anything
any fees that you need you can get your money
back for and there's also a junior scholarship
the coolidge um that offers a full ride anywhere
you go as well and that is a great deal as well
and let's also say the other There are also certain
scholarships built in for different groups of
people, like marginalized or people of color,
such as like the Black Thurgood Marshall College
Fund or Ron Brown Scholarship. There's also scholarships
specifically for women, LGBTQ communities, disabilities,
undocumented or DACA, DACA students, like the
DREAM. And for U .S. citizens abroad, I'll just
shout out some names really quickly. These are
the ones that I was only able to apply for because
many of the big scholarships are limited to citizens
or just high school students living in the U
.S. So for U .S. citizens living abroad, these
are some scholarships you'll be eligible for.
Jimmy Rain Foundation, Live Mass, that's Taco
Bell Scholarship, Jackie Robinson Scholarship.
Greenhouse Scholarship, GE Reagan Scholarship,
Equitable Excellence Scholarship Program, BIPOC
and Flagship Point Foundation, LGBTQ Plus Scholarships,
API QWTC Scholarship, that's for Asians, and
API Scholarships, that's also for Asians. The
one thing I'll say is if you are a resident,
make sure you look into that in -state tuition
benefits and you will get... A higher chance
of admissions as well. And case studies, for
example, UNC Chapel Hill and UVA, William & Mary.
So many of these, the need portion and the applicant
admissions portion will depend depending on your
residency. And for appeals, I will get into appeals
in a little bit. Dad, could you also talk about
some other options for scholarships and holding
on like scholarships with like a regional or
geographical scale, especially for international
students? Sure. Thank you, Premi. okay in thailand
we there many scholarship right but most of them
they give us only graduation right so uh we uh
looking for only kind of right there we could
find some uh scholarship like bangcha or hcb
they pay you a whole cost of living like a free
like a full right but and but you gotta sign
a contract to work for them after you graduate
like 1 .5 two times of the of the time you study
for that's how it look like also be sure that
to find scholarship based on your country may
find that instance if you are dual citizen thai
and us living in thailand you may find both uh
corporate and company scholarship like a government
scholarship also in thailand they call gopore
right And for those who live in the U .S., there
are often state and local scholarships available,
like Durham in North Carolina. While these scholarships
are often a small amount, they tend to be a lower
competition. Thus, they are your chance. And
another part is a scholarship through your parents'
company. And if you decide to take your student
loan, like an international student, you will
face difficulty in the sort of... pay loan money
from, right? And those interest of loan may often
be better than borrow from college institution,
federal government, banks. Now, Pramit will talk
about different way to receive more aid, institution
aid, please. Yes, okay, specifically for institution
aid, I know we've covered this, but this is in
the case or in the event that you've done the
CSH profile, you've loaded documents either through
the IDOC or through your own or through your
college admissions portal. You've done everything
that you can and you receive this financial need
-based institutional award package. And it's
simply not enough. For some reason or the other,
it doesn't fully encapsulate what your family
is able to pay. And there is this process called
the appeal process, or in some colleges might
call a request, a review of your financial process.
And essentially, you submit more documents. You
submit a written statement to essentially ask.
Ask or request a college institution for more
need -based institutional aid. and for some i
think i've done the appeal process and just to
make make to keep in mind it takes time it takes
time to upload it takes time to make sure that
documents are received you need to be sure to
follow up on them and to always inquire about
um the financial aid appeal process like the
timeline how long will it take because you might
have to make your decision very soon and it would
also say if you're able to make sure you appeal
or submit your appeal process if you are admitted
or early early restrictive action like i was
um make sure you are able to um have start this
start and submit this appeal process before rd
regular decision decisions come out because that
would be just another wave of thousands of applicants
with financial need that the the committee or
the financial office has to look for okay some
quick advice on what i've observed to be successful
appeals one you make sure to submit documents
all documents support your points two if you're
your your parents income for the next for the
tax year because um financial aid they look at
previous previous tax year for instance i'm starting
college in fall 2025 they wanted my 2023 parents
income but if my 2024 parents incomes are significant
lower then include that that will be a game changer
in your appeal and as far as i know it is helpful
to have a paragraph in your written statement
that is similar to my parents make this amount
a month and we pay this amount for mortgage this
amount towards my tuition this amount daily expenses
with only this amount left in savings and if
and then you times 12 for that amount in a year
and you can say it with no inconceivable like
way to afford to afford like this amount that
you're given for my tuition expenses at xx college
and you can also say you use a conservative estimate
and what i will say is i think from what i've
observed if you do break down in month it will
the perceived value i don't know how much that
goes to help but the perceived value might look
less if you break it down in a month and also
like in other countries like thailand income
is primarily based like from a month anyway and
also to make sure you dig in go all out look
at previous tax forms and see which parts are
factored in look at college look at the college
financial website which parts are factored in
and if they've decreased and if they have make
sure you convey that express that properly and
clearly in your appeal as well as siblings in
college this is an also important factor and
as well as for special circumstances this includes
like medical bills um elderly care like accidents
death in the family or loss of job income, etc.
And to always be sure, yeah, to follow up, make
sure the financial aid received all of them.
And also to book meetings with your financial
aid officers. This is especially important, especially
if you are assigned to one. And if you are able
to fly out to that university, fly out, go to
their financial aid office in person and have
that conversation. But if you're not able to,
that's okay too. Just book a meeting and meet
with them virtually. But face -to -face is always
important. And finally, what I will say is so
important is always be nice and polite and considerate.
Because regardless of what happens, this financial
aid officer, you will be in conversation with
them for the next four years. So this is important
that you are considerate and you keep a great
relationship with them. And dad, do you want
to say something about how our appeal process
looked like? Sure. Premier talked about the process
already. Now, after we... did it already there
are some results from the university that uh
premier accepted like um the first one the the
year right the year we accepted uh center december
but we delayed three four months waiting for
her mother uh revenue incomes data so we are
still waiting for it and the second one duke
university we just we just get the result from
the full 98k our tuition fee to 78k up after
we got the data from the u .s and we also we
got a pay grant also the third one washington
university we got a full tuition with uh with
the merit and pay grant also and the fourth one
it really marry uh together from 70k to 50k right
for a tuition assistant And UNC, that's a good
thing because the premier state and we got a
full tuition and we finally saw more headcanons
also, right? And sixth one, we got Boston University,
we got full tuition also. And seventh one, we
got Urbana, right? Yeah, that's an example of
the result, yeah. All right, thank you so much.
And I will say like with all those results, you
may see that. well, okay, this college is giving
like full scholarships. That might be because
of merit. Or like William & Mary, UNC, they only
take into account custodial parents' income.
And that's why I was able to get need -based
aid from those institutions. And just if you
go back and listen again, my financial circumstance
is complicated. And that would be like the last
question that I would ask. And that is just where
we are at now in the journey. And thank you so
much, everyone, for tuning in. And I hope that
you were able to find at least some of that information.
useful and I know that it was like it might be
overwhelming that is a lot of information that
is everything I've learned over the course of
two years so having that condensed in 40 minutes
can be like really overwhelming so stick out
with me Reach out if you have any questions about
this. I'll be so happy to answer through Let's
Students Incorporate website or email. And again,
while some may have it easier than others, it
can often be discouraging. But keep pushing on.
Keep fighting. College education in the United
States is so expensive. And because of this,
we wish you the best. And now we'll be expanding
the reach to the possibilities of a college education
in other countries. And we'll be inviting Hebe
and Adi, who have all recently gone through this
process, to share their insights and advice.
Adi and Hiwi's part goes here. Continue. Thank
you so much for joining us today and for sharing
the insights. There's always, always other options.
Take a gap year, work, two -year technical trade
school, community college, and then you could
always transfer. And if I were to give... a piece
of advice to those applying and affording colleges
in the U .S., I would ask, what do you think,
Dad, from the perspective of a parent, what would
be your advice? For the important thing, you've
got to talk your family together. And if you
can afford, like a counselor to consult you,
you can go with them. But if you cannot... uh
you can do it by yourself like premi she could
go to the year of duke whatever without consultant
but with uh i see a support that's enough and
one more thing that don't give up right do your
best and you won't look at later and god bless
you okay Thank you so much. And I will say to
that point, you have a good point. I think you
are able to afford. I think I have different
thoughts on the admissions process, the counseling
bit, but I definitely think that having someone
who is familiar with the financial aid process
and the financial aspect of the college affordability
aspect, that is definitely helpful. And if I
were to give a piece of advice to an underclassman
about to start this process or in the middle
of college applications and in particular for
affording college, i would say look out reach
out there are so many resources there are so
many opportunities and to never be afraid i can
share personally that for emory i ended up being
a finalist for emory's full ride program and
i i ended up getting 100k on lower arts college
scholarship and i submitted the application two
days late the deadline was november 15th I found
out about this opportunity November 17th. And
it was really sad because, oh, if it were just
two days ago, I could have submitted it. But
I reached out. I emailed the admissions counselor
and asked if I might still be able to submit
my application, even though it was two days late.
And that person replied back saying, OK, you
have five hours to do it. And that's what I did.
And in those five hours, I earned 100K. And I
think it just goes to show that. Don't be afraid.
You might be living hundreds and thousands of
miles away from all these institutions. But there
are means of contacting them. Reach out. Check
out for deadlines. Reach out. There are so many
opportunities. There are so many chances. And
I know it is hard. I know it is hard. But I believe
in you. You can do this. And just push forward.
Persevere. Everything will be okay in the end.
It might not look like it. It might be so stressful
and anxiety -inducing in the process. But outside,
there is a light at the tunnel. You will be okay.
And everything will work out. Just keep pushing.
and keep fighting. And support systems are so
important to make out. Make sure you lean on
to those as well. Thank you so much for joining
us. Could you introduce yourself and what majors
or fields of study you're interested in, Adi?
So as you said, my name is Adi and I have an
interest in medicine, so I'm planning on pursuing
a career as a doctor and somewhere, somewhat
in like literature as well. Oh, that's cool.
Literature? Yeah, I like journalism. I did not
know that. Well, I applied for that first and
then I had to make changes. Oh, that's so cool.
Okay. Could you tell us more about your initial
expectations or hopes for pursuing colleges,
including like which countries with which colleges?
And also, where are you now on the journey of
attending an affording college? Okay, so initially
I wanted to go to America to pursue a career
as a doctor there, but I soon realized that it's
very expensive, especially as an international
Asian, as well as it's also really long and it's
also a gamble. Even if you finish your bachelor's,
it's really hard for you to get into their med
school as an international student. That was
kind of a bummer. And even when I got in a program,
I still couldn't pay for it. So I had to look
elsewhere. So, and I wasn't, like UK was always
my second choice. That's, you know, I lived there
for a while and I have a lot of family members
there. So I'm not that sad that I'm going to
UK, but excited. Yeah. That's cool. Can you tell
us like... Or, like, specifically, if you don't
want to share, like, which colleges you've been
accepted to or, like, which ones, like, do you
know now for sure? Are you committed? Yeah, I'm,
like, 90 % committed that I'm going to go to
University of Dublin. But I might not go there
if I don't get their financial aid, which kind
of depends on my AP score. So let's hope I don't,
like, fumble scores there. But if not, I'm probably
going to go to one of the five, three UK schools
that I've gotten in. that's cool could you talk
a bit about like what that aid process looks
like like do they meet all of you all you need
base aid is it like all right base i will well
the aid the way the aid works is basically if
i get certain fives i'll be getting full ride
oh that's so cool yeah so it is kind of like
it has some things to it i need to keep my grades
in university every year to have that aid right
for all six years and i kind of also have to
do residency there okay so it's like but i'm
okay with that because it's a med school and
i'm skipping the pre -med process so i'm already
like getting some years off so i'm okay with
that that's cool that's cool and like would you
say like as a rule like in europe or like in
uk you were saying like is the process of getting
like easier to like the states or like merit
wise or like how's the application like I think
getting aid at the UK is much harder than the
American. Oh, really? Well, to be honest, you
don't get aid in med school in general. They
just don't give it out. And the UK, most of the
schools are very private and they don't get government
aid. So it kind of makes it harder. And I don't
want to be saying allegations, but they don't
want a lot of Asians here. i see like would you
be like an international i would be an international
student i see so it has some baggages to it but
they're ireland is not part of the uk because
they left it so they kind of a nicer and more
relaxed policies and they give a lot of aid which
is wonderful for me i guess that's nice do you
know what you have to decide by or like is there
like a form you have to fill out um or like conditional
acceptance uh well i've gotten in It's just this
is for the aid qualification. I see. Which is
because I'm not doing the A -levels, they kind
of expect me to get more fives. Oh, no. So that's
kind of a bummer, especially with some of my
classes this year. It is kind of hard, but I
think it should be sufficeable. It's okay. You
got this. We believe in you. You're going to
get fives and you're going to afford college.
Sure. And we always like to end our guest segments
by asking for advice. If you could give a piece
of advice to underclassmen looking to apply and
afford college in, like, you were saying, like,
UK or, like, Europe, what would it be? And you
can, like, be as specific as you want to be.
You can talk, like, specifically, like, med school
or, like, whatever you want to talk about. Yeah.
So if you want to go to med school, I would say
that you start preparing for all their standardized
tests in 10th grade. I know that's kind of a
bummer because I know most of us probably doesn't,
we don't know what we want to do by 10th grade,
but. It is the best thing you can do. Start preparing
in 10th grade. And I don't know if this is like
a great advice, but I would recommend everyone
to get a college counselor. I never had one and
I know people had one and it seems like it helped
them a lot with this process. So I just think
that would be a good thing to start with. And
would you like recommend college counselor for
like admissions and financial or like mostly
one or the other or like for everything? if you're
able to afford it. That is true. But, yeah. Well,
if you want to just get into uni, a college counselor
seems to always help people in our grade. Well,
a lot of people in our grade have college counselors,
so it does help them. Even financial aid, it
seems like it helps them because I know friends
who've gotten good financial packages with their
college counselors. So, I mean, I know I get
that most people can't afford it, but if you
can, I think it's a good thing to invest in.
Okay, thank you so much, Adi. Thank you for having
me. And Hewee, thank you so much for joining
us. Could you introduce yourself and what majors
or fields of study that you're interested in?
Okay, so my name is Grace, but people know me
as Hewee. And I applied to marketing major and
film major. So I applied to multiple universities
in Korea. I applied to different majors for each
school. That makes sense. So mostly it's marketing
and film major. Thank you so much. And look who's
on the marketing team making the best for us
this season. Thank you. Could you tell us more
about your initial expectations or hopes for
where you wanted to go for college, including
which countries or also where you are now on
the journey of attending and affording college?
So at first, I had like a dream of studying abroad.
So I wanted to apply to like U .S. universities.
But at the end, I ended up applying to only Korean
universities. And I think I suit better in Korea.
And there's always an opportunity for me to study
abroad whenever I want. Maybe like as an exchange
student or maybe as like graduate program. Yeah.
And you'll get better food in Korea too. Yes,
yes. For sure. And we'd always like to end with
our guest segments by asking them for advice.
If you could give a piece of advice to underclassmen
looking to apply and afford college in Korea,
what would it be? I think there will be like
cultural differences, I guess. So first of all,
get fluent in Korean. And also, i don't know
don't don't be scared to try new things in korea
because there are some like stereotypes not gonna
lie in korea and that can make the people discouraged
so like don't don't be scared of what people
say or how they perceive you and just do your
own thing yeah absolutely trying things thank
you so much hiwi thank you CSPC and BP Pharmaceutical
Co. Ltd., founded in 2003, is a leading modern
pharmaceutical company in China specializing
in innovative drug production. It was the first
in the country to license patented drugs internationally
with FDA standard facilities and advanced automated
equipment. Its flagship product, DL -3N -Betilphthide,
is a globally recognized stroke treatment benefiting
over 10 million patients and backed by nearly
40 domestic and international patents. The drug
is currently in Phase 3 clinical trials in the
U .S. and has received FDA Orphan Drug designation.
The company has earned prestigious honors, including
the China Industrial Award and the title of Green
Factory. Recapping Part 6, The Escape. Hawthorne,
Tommy, Miranda, and Ava explore El Castillo with
David leading them. Two cartel members get distracted
by the treasure, which proves to be fatal. The
group escapes just in time while helping to save
a park ranger. And without further ado, let's
jump back into our story where we join our eclectic
group of characters in their continuing adventure.
As Professor Hawthorne squeezes through the small,
rough, and rocky exit, the bright daylight meets
him with a blinding intensity, just as it had
with the others who made it safely out moments
before him. As his eyes adjust to the light,
he sees Miranda and Ava talking softly with the
young park ranger. David, having helped Hawthorne
out, was kneeling down next to the exit, waiting
to help Tommy. Tommy appears less than a minute
later and is able to exit the base of the pyramid
just like the others had done. As Tommy stands
up and brushes off his pants and shirt, Hawthorne
asks, do we need to worry about the young cartel
member? Still trying to adjust to the bright
daylight, Tommy responds, no, he was just standing
there, still bent over looking into the water.
His partner disappeared in the current. There
was nothing any of us could have done. It's weird,
but I feel terrible that we couldn't save him.
Hawthorne shakes his head in agreement and then
says, yeah, that guy didn't have a chance once
he sank into the deep part of the cenote. I grabbed
their radio as I was leaving. I think there's
another person out here somewhere, maybe a lookout.
David then adds, I spotted another guy just around
the corner, maybe 50 yards away from the base
of the pyramid, just sitting there and waiting.
And he doesn't look like the other tourists here
today because he's not part of any tour group
that I can tell. David changes the subject quickly
and then says, Professor Hawthorne, can you call
Lily? I think that's her name. And ask her to
go to the Grand Museum's reception desk at the
front of the building and confirm that something
was dropped off for me. We need to make sure
they are giving us the jade jar back as well.
Once we can confirm it, then I can give them
the location of the cenote. Hawthorne replies,
good idea. I'll call her right now so she has
time to check. Hawthorne gets on his phone, which
now has a strong signal, and calls Lily. Hawthorne
keeps the call short and says, Hello, Lily. I've
got to keep this call short, but could you do
me a huge favor and go up to the reception desk
by the front entrance and see if there was something
dropped off for David Silva? I can explain later.
Just text me back yes or no as soon as you find
out. After hearing Lily say no problem and will
do, Hawthorne hangs up and tells the others.
Tommy then starts explaining the plan to all
of them. Okay, that's great to hear from James.
Tommy says and then continues with his plan and
says, if we go around the other side of the pyramid,
we can then make our way through the ball court
and we can avoid being seen by other supposed
lookout. And David, maybe you can try to contact
whoever is on the other side of the video. Let
them know we gave them what they wanted, the
secret cenote location, and make sure they think
it's the cenote. Then we can get the J -Jaw and
get your brother back. Tommy continues. Okay.
We should go back directly to the Grand Museum
once we catch one of the shuttles that leaves
from the main parking lot. Miranda then says,
okay, ball court, then to the parking lot for
a shuttle back and then back to the Grand Museum.
Got it. She then adds, the park ranger, I found
out that his name is Louis. He's coming with
us as he needs to go back to the park administrative
headquarters next to the museum. He said he needs
to report what happened to his boss, who will
then pass it along to the provincial police who
are stationed a few kilometers down the highway.
All right. Let's go, guys. Tommy says as he starts
walking around the opposite side of the pyramid
toward the ball court to avoid the other suspected
lookout. Hawthorne walks next to Tommy as they
enter the ball court area of Chichen Itza and
discuss what their next move should be. They
stop talking partway through the ball court,
just taking in the old ancient sports arena.
It's quite impressive and the largest of its
kind in Mesoamerica. The ball court measures
at around 120 meters in length and about 30 meters
wide. It's a large flat area with tall stone
walls flanking each side of the court. Stone
rings protrude from the walls toward the top
of the wall. The Mayans used the court for games.
In one of the games, contestants would use their
hips, elbows, or knees in an effort to get a
ball made of rubber through their opponent's
stone ring. There were many tour groups mingling
around and getting photos, which also helped
the group blend in, just in case the lookout
guy was walking around. As they exited the other
end of the ball court and were now walking toward
one of the main parking lots, the radio came
alive in Hawthorne's pocket. The voice on the
other end was asking for an update and what was
going on. Hawthorne looked at Tommy and asked,
should we answer it? What should we say? David,
hearing the voice over the radio, jogged up to
Hawthorne and Tommy and said, here, let me see
the radio. I have an idea and I think you can
buy us more time. David clicks the radio receiver
and then speaks. We think we found the right
place. We still need some time to confirm. It
looks promising. I think the plan is working.
David says this into the radio and in Spanish,
trying to mimic what the other cartel members
sounded like. The guy had barked enough orders
at them while in the cavern, so David thought
he could do the guy's voice, or at least get
close to it. David then clicks off the receiver
and waits for a response, holding his breath
and secretly hoping the guy on the other side
of the radio believes it's the voice of his criminal
partner. The radio crackles one and then the
voice then says, We'll keep moving ahead. Keep
us posted. Out. It only took Lily a few minutes
to walk to the reception desk at the Grand Museum.
It was close to the entrance of the place, and
it was close to where Lily and the other students
were hanging out. There were multiple food and
beverage vendors and comfortable seating areas
near the reception table. The area inside the
front of the museum would remind you of a combination
of a food court with a local artisan craft market.
On one side were the food and beverage vendors,
and then on the other side were the artisan handicraft
vendors. The museum's reception desk sat inside
the main front doors and on one end of the large
food and craft area. The tables and chairs sprouted
out throughout the middle area. There were many
tourists around, shopping, eating, and resting.
Lily and the students were doing the same. When
Lily received the call from Professor Hawthorne,
she felt like something were going wrong. was
going on but knew that Hawthorne couldn't explain
it all to her over the phone. So, she just did
what he asked. She looked over at where all the
students were sitting. Some were eating, some
were talking with each other, and some were quiet
and on their phones. She then said, wait here,
I've got to go check on something at the reception
desk for the professor and I'll be right back.
Lily got up from the table she was sitting at.
and started walking toward the reception desk,
which was on the opposite end of where they were
all sitting. Carlos, who was just sitting there
by himself, minding his own business. He had
chosen a table that was close to both one of
the popular food vendors and near the reception
desk. He had a clear line of sight of the reception
desk with the food vendor sitting just to his
right side. Close enough that he could smell
the fresh street tacos being made. He was definitely
going to get some as soon as he had a chance.
He was also playing one of his favorite games
on his phone while waiting. He loved football,
or what the Americans call soccer. And he secretly
wished he could have been a better football player.
If that would have been the case, then he wouldn't
have to be doing this type of work. Anyway, Carlos
just sat there, distracted by his video game
and the smell of fresh street tacos being made
next to him. He had to keep reminding himself
to keep an eye on the reception desk to see if
anyone comes and picks up the black bag Renata
had placed there earlier. He sees a text message
come through. It's from his aunt Maria and reads,
Give me an update. Has anyone picked up the bag
yet? Carlos texts back quickly, slightly annoyed
that the text message interrupted his video game
playing. And he texts back, No, nothing yet.
As Lily weaved her way through all the tables
and chairs, having left the students just a short
two minutes prior who were keeping themselves
busy, she looked toward the reception desk and
saw a black bag sitting on the side of the desk,
in plain sight and next to one of the desk attendants.
She thinks, oh, I wonder if that's what Professor
Hawthorne is talking about. As she nears the
last of the seating area, she notices a guy who's
sitting alone at a table pointing on his phone.
The volume is up on his phone, that's probably
what caught her attention. And Lily can see that
he's playing a video game. She also notices that
he's acting fidgety, looking up toward the reception
desk, and then looking down at his game every
few seconds. As she walks by him, she looks down
at his table. This guy has his arms outstretched
on the table and holding his phone and playing
a video game. Lily notices that the guy has a
tattoo on his wrist. The tattoo is of a cross
with two small dots above the cross. She doesn't
think much about it and then keeps walking towards
the reception desk. All of a sudden, her phone
rings. She looks down and sees that it's Professor
Hawthorne, so she stops and answers it. As soon
as Lily answers her phone, Hawthorne asks, is
there something at the reception desk? Sorry
to rush you, but it's a little time sensitive.
The dean now walking a little slower toward the
reception desk because she was on the phone,
gets a little closer and then responds to Professor
Hawthorne's and says, yeah, there's a black bag
sitting there and it looks like a note is on
it. However, I can't read it from where I'm standing.
Okay, great, Hawthorne replies and then continues,
don't pick it up. We'll be there in the next
10 minutes or so, as we just caught a shuttle.
David can be the one to pick up the black bag.
You can go be with the students while you wait
for us to arrive. Before Hawthorne hangs up,
he asks one more question. Just out of curiosity,
he asks, oh, by the way, and before I hang up,
you didn't happen to see anything or anybody
that seems out of place, like they don't belong
there. Right when Professor Hawthorne asked Lily
that question, she immediately thought about
the guy who was sitting by himself and playing
his video game on his phone. He didn't look like
the other tourists. He wasn't wearing the same
types of clothes the other tourists were wearing,
and he seemed quite anxious and nervous about
something. He also had an interesting tattoo
on his wrist. Lily responded back to Hawthorne
as she started to walk back to where the students
were still sitting. Lily responded, there is
this one guy I walked by. He's alone and acting
a little off. He doesn't really fit in as a tourist
or museum worker. He is sitting at one of the
tables closest to the reception desk. Oh, and
I almost forgot this part. He's got a tattoo
on his wrist. It's off a cross with two dots
above it. I thought it was interesting, as I've
never seen one like that before. Just as Lily
said that last thing, the shuttle bus arrived
to pick up Hawthorne's group and several other
tourists who were also waiting at the bus pickup
spot in the park's main parking lot. Hawthorne
made it a point to follow right behind David
as the group loaded onto the shuttle bus. Hawthorne
sat down next to David in one of the open seats
and then said, Lily, we have a development. Don't
approach that guy. We'll be there soon, so hang
tight with the students. Hawthorne hung up the
call with Lily and then said to David, who was
sitting next to him, on the shuttle bus and said,
David, didn't you say that the guy at the museum,
the guy Ava caught on camera that night at the
gala, had a tattoo of a cross with two dots on
his wrist and that you recognized it? David,
with a puzzled and concerned expression on his
face, answers, Yes, why? Hawthorne answered,
as Lily was going to see if there was something
waiting at the reception desk for you, she walked
past a suspicious looking guy and noticed he
had that same tattoo on his wrist. David then
says, okay, I guess that's to be expected. Hmm,
so they have another lookout posted by the reception
desk to see who comes to pick up the J jar they
promised to give us? He continues, I'll go in
and pick up the black bag. The rest of you go
in first and then spread out. I'll come in last
and go directly to the reception desk. The lookout
will see me and then hopefully call back to his
people to let them know I picked up the jay jar.
Hawthorne then replies, Okay, we'll hang tight
in the meantime. There's plenty of tourists around
so we can blend in. As the shuttle bus enters
the parking lot of the Grand Museum and as they
all exit, Hawthorne and David share the plan
with Miranda, Ava, and Tommy. The young park
ranger then informed the group that he was heading
directly over to his supervisor's office so they
could then call the provincial police to get
them involved. Hawthorne, Miranda, Ava, and Tommy
all enter the Grand Museum together, avoid walking
by the reception desk, and then spread out among
the tourists that are mingling around in the
food and market court area. David was going to
wait about 10 minutes and then come in by himself
and go right to the reception desk to pick up
the bag. While Hawthorne and the others were
pretending to blend in as tourists, Hawthorne
noticed the guy Lily described on the phone sitting
at a table still playing a game on his phone.
He looked up every once in a while toward the
reception desk, just like Lily had described.
Hawthorne thought, this has to be the guy. Hawthorne
then walked over to be close to where Tommy and
Miranda were, Ava having already found Lily and
the students some distance away and was sitting
and talking with them. Hawthorne then said to
Miranda and Tommy, what do you think? Tommy says,
let's wait and see what happens. We can always
alert one of the on -site security guards. I'll
put money on it. That guy was one of the guys
at the gala event the other night. Taller, thin,
and has the same tattoo on his wrist. I mean,
he fits the image Ava has of him on a camera.
Well, Prof. Tommy, you'd win the bet because
that is 100 % the guy at the gala event. He's
probably the one who knocked out Mr. Garcia,
Miranda says. As David was waiting to enter the
Grand Museum, he texted a number of the person
who was holding his brother, hoping to call their
bluff. He wrote, As soon as I pick up the jade
jar and it's confirmed, and you release my brother
and confirm he's released, I'll tell you the
exact location of the cenote where I found the
golden mask. Please text back confirming you
agree. David waited for a moment and then saw
the text's response say, agree. Wow, that was
fast, David thought to himself. So, David waited
another few minutes and then walked through the
front doors of the Grand Museum and directly
over to the reception desk. He immediately saw
the black bag just sitting there with the note
attached. He then politely asked the receptionist
if he could look at the note. He looked at the
note, then showed the receptionist his photo
ID with his name and picked up the bag. The bag
was heavy for its size and seemed to feel correct.
However, David was not the one who discovered
and studied this artifact. Miranda was that person
and she was somewhere among the tourists standing
by. David also noticed that the zippers were
zip -tied, so the only way to unzip the bag and
look inside was to cut the zip ties. He assumed
this was done to keep prying eyes from doing
so. He reached into his side pants pocket, out
of habit, to grab his favorite small folding
pocket knife, the one he takes with him just
about everywhere, and nothing. It wasn't there.
Then he remembers that he left it back in Mexico
City because they flew to Merida instead of driving.
Hmm. He thinks to himself and asks the receptionist
for a pair of scissors. Maria is getting antsy.
She knows that the cartel member, the one that
drove them to Chichen Itza, is waiting for a
location of a cenote. She feels a sense of relief
that they can finally hand over the guy they
have had to keep quiet and alive and who's been
stuck in the trunk for almost three hours. She
doesn't want this guy to die. After all, he was
their getaway driver after Carlos and Renata
stole the artifacts from the big gala a few nights
back. He was also much more friendly than the
jerk cartel member who has been giving them commands
all day, mostly to do what they're told. Maria
turns around in the car and says to Renata, who
is half asleep in the backseat of the car and
says, shouldn't be much longer now. We are just
waiting for the location of the cenote. We think
the guy's brother, the guy in the trunk, his
brother just picked up the black bag from the
reception desk. Now, hopefully he won't open
it right now. Gosh, I hope so, Maria, Renata
says with a tired slur. We've been waiting forever
in this hot car. Maria then responds, yeah, I'm
ready to get out of this heat. Imagine how the
guy in the trunk feels. All of a sudden, the
cartel member looks over at Maria, gives her
a thumbs up, and tells her to get rid of the
guy in the trunk. He also tells her and Renata
to get out, and they will have to find their
own way back to Mexico City. He gives Maria some
cash and then tells her to hurry so he can leave.
Maria then tells Renata to get out of the car
and to help her get the guy out of the trunk.
The driver pops the trunk and Maria looks into
the trunk at the guy who is just laying there,
not moving. Both Aunt Maria and Renanta are now
standing over the back of the trunk, lid open
and looking at the guy just laying there. Renanta
then asks, is he dead? Maria responds, I don't
know. Then she says, pour some water on his face
from your water bottle. Maybe he just passed
out. As soon as Renanta poured some water onto
the guy's face and head, he bolted up in a sitting
position and asked where he was. It startled
Renata so much she let out a faint scream and
stepped back a few steps and then said, Oh, thank
God goodness. We thought you were dead. The man
shook his head, not really knowing what to say
next. Maria then said, Get out of the trunk.
You're free. Go over to the Grand Museum. You
can get some food and water over there. Maria
then points at a large building close to them
and then says, Those are the main doors. You
can go on over there. The man climbs out of the
trunk and starts walking slowly toward the ground
museum building some 100 yards away. Maria then
looks at Renata and says, Thankfully, we are
parked in the shady part back here. Otherwise,
I'm not sure that guy who would have made it
another hour in the trunk. At that moment, the
cartel member who is still sitting in the driver's
seat yells out the window and tells Maria to
shut the trunk. Maria complies and shuts the
trunk lid. All of a sudden, the car takes off,
leaving Maria and her niece Renata just standing
there all by themselves. David, knowing that
his brother probably could not last much longer,
finally texts the number again and tells the
person on the other side that the golden mask
was found in the cenote at the bottom inside
of El Castillo. David also knew that it was only
a matter of time before the other cartel member,
the lookout, And the younger one that they had
left in the pyramid were going to reconnect with
the guy on the other side of this unknown number
and probably find out that one of their own had
probably drowned in the cenote and that he and
his group had escaped. So, David took the gamble,
even though he had not been able to get the zip
ties cut from the black bag and look inside.
Hawthorne, who was still mingling around close
to where Tommy was, started noticing some museum
security guards walking through the food court
and market area in the direction of the reception
desk, where David was still standing. Tommy walked
closer to where Hawthorne is standing, next to
a small t -shirt vendor display, and then says,
James, are you seeing this? Those guys are headed
towards David. Almost at the same moment, Miranda
shows up next to Tommy and Hawthorne, not really
caring if they are seen together, and then says,
do you think they are after David? Hawthorne
then says, I'm curious about that guy. He then
softly points at the loner sitting by himself
who keeps looking up towards David and then back
down at his phone. The tall, thin guy is acting
nervous and anxious about something. Hawthorne
continues, from this distance it appears there
is a tattoo on his wrist, though it's hard to
make out what it is. However, Lily said it was
a cross with two dots above it, which would match
with Ava's photo proof. Miranda steps forward
a bit closer to try and see if she can get a
better look at the tattoo on the guy's wrist.
She notices that he receives a text, stops playing
his video game, answers the text, and then looks
up towards David, and then texts back. Hmm, interesting.
Miranda thinks to herself. She looks back at
both Prof. Tommy and Professor Hawthorne to see
if they noticed the same thing. They must have
as they were both moving closer to where she
was now standing. The security guards, now four
of them, were walking very slowly. Miranda could
tell that their attention was not on David. She
felt a sense of relief. She noticed their attention
was now on the guy playing on his phone. Tommy
says softly to Harbon and Miranda as he watches
the same thing unfolding. Well, Maybe our little
Pog Ranger friend is coming through for us now.
Those security guards look serious, even though
they can only carry stun guns. Hawthorne replies,
let's hang back and see what happens. All of
a sudden, they see David a short distance away
from where the guy is on his phone, sitting at
the table looking up and walking toward another
guy coming at him. Hawthorne, Tommy, and Miranda
see David give the guy a big hug and then say
a bunch of stuff to him. None of them could make
out what David was saying, but knew that the
other guy had to be David's brother by the reaction
they were witnessing. At this same time, Hawthorne,
Tommy, and Miranda were also watching what was
going on with the security guards and the mysterious
guy at the table Lily had alerted them to. The
three of them were like spectators watching two
scenes play out a mere 30 feet away as tourists
and vendors walked about oblivious to the upcoming
action that was about to happen. The security
guards were closer now to the guy who was still
sitting down at the table looking down at his
phone. There was one table, a few chairs, and
two tourists between the four security guards
and him. All of a sudden, the man at the table
stopped his game and glanced up toward David.
And then it happened. Carlos was tired of playing
his video game and was tired of babysitting this
black bag which had the rock in it. He was still
convinced that the plan with the rock was not
going to work. These people were way smarter
than that. He had come to a place where he really
didn't care anymore at this point. He was just
hoping to get their final payout from their heist
back in Mexico City. He hadn't been paying much
attention to the reception desk area after texting
his aunt Maria. His aunt watched him to wait
there and confirmed two things before he was
able to leave and come join them outside further
down the road where she had secured them a taxi
ride back to Merida. First, he needed to see
if the guy who picked up the black bag was able
to get inside of it, which, as Carlos could tell,
he hadn't been able to cut through the zip ties
on the zipper yet. Then, second, Carlos needed
to watch and see if the guy they had put in the
trunk of their car was going to walk in through
the main doors and connect with the guy holding
the black bag. As soon as the second thing happened,
he could leave, hopefully unnoticed. Carlos had
a secret he was proud of, and he was hoping his
aunt and sister would be proud of him as well.
There were two identical old gym bags in the
back of the car on the floor. When Carlos and
Renata had swapped out the rock for the jade
jar, They put the jade jar in one of the old
gym bags and Carlos had put some other rocks
in the other old gym bag. Well, when Carlos got
out of the car to go stake out the reception
desk in the museum, he grabbed the old gym bag
with the jade jar and took it with him. He left
the other old gym bag in the back seat on the
floor, the one with the rocks in it. Renata didn't
even see him doing all of that. He was pretty
proud to have fooled all of them. Hawthorne,
Tommy, and Miranda were nervously watching both
scenes in front of them. They were bystanders
just standing there and waiting for something
to happen. What were the security guards going
to do with the guy at the table? How was David
and his brother going to react? All of a sudden,
the thin, tall guy who was just sitting at the
table playing on his phone stands up abruptly
and looks towards where David and his brother
are standing and talking. The table guy then
bends over, grabs something, maybe a bag, from
the chair that was sitting next to him. The bag
he grabbed was out of sight, so it was a bit
alarming for him to stand up quickly and grab
the bag, almost in a threatening way. This all
happened in a quick set of movements, which triggered
Miranda into defense mode. All she saw was this
stranger bend over and either reach into an old
bag or grab the bag. This made her think of the
worst possibility. Before she knew what had happened
and why, she yelled out, David! She said it loud
enough that most of the tourists and shop owners
in close proximity to her, Professor Hawthorne,
and Prof. Tommy all stopped and looked over at
her. So did David and his brother, some distance
away. So did the tall and skinny Mexican guy
who was now standing up straight and looking
directly at her, as if to say, who are you? Hawthorne
watched as David and his brother stood still
while looking over at Miranda, then over at a
guy Miranda was pointing at. The guy was holding
an old, worn -out sports bag in one hand. and
his cell phone in the other. Hawthorne then noticed
that the guy then turned his attention away from
Miranda, turned his head slightly more to the
left, and was then staring directly into the
eyes of the museum security guards, all four
of them. Most of the people around their general
location were now sitting or standing still and
waiting and watching to see if a confrontation
was about to erupt between the security guards
and the guy whose attention they were on. Carlos
felt trapped, a little nervous and unsure of
what he should do. There were four security guards
looking at him. Carlos knew he could take them
all on at one time if he had to and win. He was
confident in his ability to fight. He was skinny
and tall, but he was scrappy. He'd been in street
fights before and usually came out on top because
his opponents would underestimate his survival
ability. So he stood there waiting for the four
losers to make the first move. He slowly slipped
his mobile phone in his pocket and then gripped
the old gym bag even tighter. Carlos yells out
to the security guys, are you guys just going
to stand there? Then, without hesitation, one
of the security guards pulls out a non -lethal
taser. That's when Carlos, who had been tased
before, decides not to hang around any longer.
He pushes the table he'd been sitting at towards
all four of the guards, grabs a chair, and throws
it at them, and then turns around and sprints
towards the front main doors. Carlos knows that
if he can get outside, he can probably outrun
them, meet up with Maria and Renata, and then
get away. David watches as the security guards
lunge forward, stumble around the table and chairs,
but cannot get to the guy they were standing
by fast enough before he was running toward the
front main doors his brother had just walked
in through. This kid, the one the security guards
were now trying to run after, was fast. David
knew that there was no security guards who were
going to catch him. Three of the guards were
overweight and were already starting to show
signs of fatigue. And the fourth guard looked
to be in his late 50s or early 60s. As the tall
skinny guy ran past David and his brother David
saw, clear as day, the tattoo on the guy's wrist.
As the security guys were now getting closer
to where David was standing, looking disheveled
and fatigued already, they returned and ran after
the guy right out the front doors. Miranda, Hawthorne,
and Tommy fast walked toward the front main doors
and watched as David ran after the guy through
the parking lot and then chased him onto a small
patch of sand and grass which was close to the
museum's property line. They all watched as David
caught up with the guy and then tackled him football
style onto the grassy area just off the side
of the parking lot. four security guards were
not far behind, huffing and puffing as they approached
the two men who were now struggling together
on the ground. At that point, Miranda started
running toward them, with Professor Hawthorne
and Professor Tommy falling behind her. They
all watched as two of the four security guards
got closer to where David and this other guy
were, still wrestling together on the ground.
The two guards had their tasers out and pointing
at the two men on the ground rolling and then
pulled the triggers. Four darts with wires streamed
out from the two guns. One struck David and the
other three darts and wires struck the guy David
was trying to subdue. The thin, tall David, kneeling
down and holding the guy he was chasing in the
sleeper headlock, felt the shock of both stun
guns as well. He fell to the ground right next
to the other guy who was completely unconscious.
David did not lose consciousness. As David lay
there, he looked over at the other guy whose
eyes were closed and laying there, right next
to him. He was breathing heavily and had a pleasant
look on his face, like he just fell asleep for
his afternoon siesta. David watched as the security
guards who had just tased them were now zip -tying
the unconscious guy's hands and feet. David then
sat up, trying to shake off the fact that he
was just unintentionally taste. Notices Miranda,
Professor Hawthorne, and Prof. Tommy arriving
on the scene and asking if he was okay. As Miranda,
Tommy, and David were talking with the security
guards, all four of them were now on the scene.
Hawthorne picked up the old sports bag that the
guy had dropped when David tackled him. The object
in the bag was heavy, so Hawthorne opened the
bag, and what do you know? To his surprise, there
in the old smelly sports bag was the jade jar.
Hawthorne quickly zipped the bag back up just
as the provincial police showed up in one of
their trucks with lights flashing. Hawthorne
slowly retreats from the scene, bag in hand,
and stands a short distance away. He watches
as the provincial police question the security
guards, then David, then Miranda, and Tommy.
By this time, the guy who David had tackled,
they come to find out later that his name was
Carlos Emanuel Rodriguez. Well, he was somewhat
awake now and talking. Hawthorne watched as he
was put in the back of the police truck to wait.
One of the police officers pulled out a utility
knife from the truck and then cut the zip ties
on the black bag that was sitting on the ground
where David had dropped it right before tackling
the guy. The police officer reached into the
bag, pulled out a heavy object, wrapped a newspaper,
looked at it, then removed the newspaper to reveal
just rock. Hawthorne thought to himself as he
looked down at the old sports bag he was carrying
and then said to himself, well, luck has looked
down on us twice today. And the secret Mayan
treasure location is still a secret. Renanta
exhales and yawns and then asks, Aunt Maria,
how much longer do we have to wait? She says
this as she leans against the side of the taxi.
She and her aunt have been waiting for well over
30 minutes for Carlos to meet them there so they
can all get a ride back to Merida. Maria looks
up at Renata. She too is getting a little frustrated
and irritated that Carlos hasn't met them yet.
Maria answers Renata, he'll be here, we just
need to wait. No sooner did she say this when
they see a police truck coming toward them on
the road, obviously leaving the park. It all
happened in slow motion. As Maria and Renata
watch the police truck drive by, they smile at
the two police officers sitting in the cab and
notice that there's someone sitting in the back
bed of the truck. Maria and Renata lock eyes
with the person as the truck drives by. It's
Carlos. And that ends part seven. Stay tuned
for next week as we bring you part eight in our
continuing story, Legends of the Yucatan. As
we end this episode, we want to thank you for
joining us for this important conversation about
navigating college financial aid. We hope today's
insights help you make informed decisions and
feel more confident about your next steps. Remember,
planning early and staying informed can make
all the difference. And make sure you join us
next week as we bring you part eight in our continuing
adventure story, Legends of the Yucatan. And
as always, this podcast would not be possible
without the hard work and support of our international
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images, videos, and music. And we are signing
off until next time. We are Students Incorporated,
because your voice matters.