Welcome to our HOWL Program!
Coyotes,
I am honored and excited to be a part of the CSUSB Community. My name is Francisco Burgos and I have worked with families of all backgrounds to learn the ins and outs of financial aid over the past 3 years. When I first started college I had no background, or general understanding of financial wellness or financial aid, and I struggled when it came to budgeting, saving, investing, etc. This led me to wanting to pursue a position in financial aid because I knew it meant that I would be able to help students and families like mine. Growing up poor and in a single parent household was not easy, but it taught me how to learn to manage my finances better because I was the one in charge of figuring out how to pay for school and learning how to balance my spending. Drawing from my own undergrad experience, I kept my mom out of the loop when it came to expenses because I did not want her to stress about bills and tuition, and instead, struggled on my own to figure these things out. I was the first person in my family to go to college and I wanted to make sure that no one had to worry about me while I was there. Now, as someone who has graduated college and now works for one, I realized that the process could have gone a lot smoother if I learned proper budgeting techniques and kept my mother in the mix when it came to my college finances. Over the past 3 years, being on the opposite side of having to explain how Financial Aid works to students and parents, I have come to understand how important it is to build a community where all sides know what they are doing and make sure all parties involved are informed. I want you all to have a better and more informed experience when going through the whole process than I did. I know it can be very scary when dealing with finances, but it doesn’t always have to be that way. Together, we can make the process simpler and look forward to doing financial aid every year. You will be a better student because of it and can help those that come after you with their financial literacy journey as well. With that being said, I look forward to working with all of you to help better your understanding of financial aid, and financial literacy in general. I can’t wait to learn from all of you as well!
Sincerely,
Francisco Burgos