Recently, five Santaluces Chiefs’ including Aliya Linan have had the opportunity of a lifetime by being awarded not only an acceptance to Florida State University but a spot in the CARE Program. The Florida State University Center for Academic Retention and Enhancement provides preparation, orientation, and academic support programming for students who are among the first in their family to attend college and may face unique challenges during college.

Aliya has dreamed of attending FSU since freshman year and had the support of her family since then. Neither of her parents had the opportunity of even graduating high school nonetheless going to college. Being the first in her family to receive a high school diploma and becoming a future Nole of one of the top twenty five best schools nationally has made all her supportive relatives very proud.

“The day I found out I was accepted into Florida State, I got home to my family surprising me with balloons and FSU gifts,” Linan explained. Her family being her number one supporters and being almost as happy as she was about the good news will hopefully make her transition into college easier.

Being a future Nole includes living six hours away in Tallahassee away from her family for the next four years. Despite her nerves of being that far away from where she has lived all her life and everything that she has become familiar to, Linan is still very excited to meet new people and experience being an adult for the first time. She will be attending FSU during the upcoming summer term and will be apart of the graduating class of 2023. Although undecided with her major, she does plan on doing something in the medical field. While in school in Tallahassee, she wants to get a job in the CARE Program and help incoming freshmen like herself adjust to college life.