The Story of Amir

From Aimless to All In: Amir’s College Breakthrough

The “We Might Need Some Help” Moment

Amir couldn't quite picture what life after high school looked like for him. He had no clear sense of what he wanted to study, and a quiet but deep sensitivity about the cost of college left him feeling like he couldn't ask his parents to make that kind of investment on his behalf. Without a clear path forward, he found himself weighing options without getting any closer to answers.

His parents knew from experience that talking about college with teenagers required a certain finesse — but their older kids had been open and enthusiastic about the process. Amir was different. His ambiguity left them in unfamiliar territory, and they were already treading carefully, not wanting to say the wrong thing and shut the conversation down entirely.

That's when they decided to find some help.

Enter Core College Consulting

After an initial conversation with Amir's parents, it was clear that a gentle approach would work best. We arranged an introductory meeting between Amir and Shannon Bergeron, Core College Consulting's founder and lead college counselor — someone who has a gift for creating the kind of safe, comfortable environment where teenagers actually open up.

That first meeting proved to be a pivotal moment. Shannon led Amir through an honest conversation about his life, his goals, his interests, and his fears. They explored a range of possibilities together — including the idea of a gap year. By the end of the conversation, something had shifted. Amir wasn't opposed to college at all. He was actually excited about it. He just had no idea where to begin.

The whole process felt like a giant, tangled ball of yarn to him. What he needed was someone to help him untangle it.

Shannon and Amir got to work, starting with the most important question: what did he actually want to study? Through a series of reflective conversations, writing exercises, and deep exploration of his interests, a picture began to emerge. Amir was genuinely excited about the intersection of business and public health — a combination he hadn't even known was possible to pursue. From there, the mission became finding the schools where that passion could take him somewhere real.

A college list took shape. Shannon helped Amir approach each step of the evaluation process in manageable pieces — thorough enough to be meaningful, structured enough not to be overwhelming. With a clear plan in place and regular check-ins to keep Amir and his parents aligned, Amir applied to 11 colleges. Every single one of them was a school he was genuinely excited about.

The Part We Love Most

Of the 11 colleges Amir applied to, he was accepted at 10. Eight of those schools offered generous scholarships. Five invited him into their honors programs.

For a student who had once struggled to imagine himself in college at all, these were remarkable outcomes — but the decision still required careful thought. Cost had always been a significant factor for Amir, so he returned to the criteria he and Shannon had established early in the process, using it as a framework to thoughtfully compare his top four schools. Rather than getting lost in the excitement of so many great options, he was able to "try on" each school against what mattered most to him — academically, financially, and personally.

In April 2026, after weeks of deliberate, confident consideration, Amir accepted his offer from the University of Maryland — a school he and his parents were genuinely thrilled about. Not just a great choice on paper, but a place where Amir truly belonged.