Margaret Gandy has helped Plant High students get into college - and pay for it - since 1985. She retires today.
By JAN WESNER CHILDS
Published May 30, 2003
Scheduling a meeting with Margaret Gandy in her office at Plant High School is a tough thing to do. Gandy, who leaves today as the school's college and financial aid guru, can barely catch her breath, let alone have a leisurely chat.
"I always say I didn't know what I wanted to do when I grew up until I did this," Gandy says. "It's fun, it's hard work, time-consuming, but the results, the rewards, are daily."
Gandy has been the guidance resource specialist at Plant High since 1985. She doesn't counsel students in the traditional sense. Gandy's job is to see that they get into college and apply for and receive scholarships and financial aid.
Her efforts have paid off. During her tenure, the amount of scholarships offered to Plant seniors has grown from $340,000 to $5-million. She officially retires June 30.
Gandy can remember only twice in the past 18 years that one of her students did not get into one of his or her top three college picks. The program she created has spread to every high school in the county.
"She's kind of an institution," said Pat Smith, director of guidance services for Hillsborough County schools. "We are all very depressed that she will be gone."
On a recent, typically hectic day in the college and financial aid center where Gandy works, the phone is ringing off the hook. One caller is a friend of a Plant student who wants to know if Gandy can help him get student housing at Auburn University. Another is someone with a problem about the trophies for the school's annual awards ceremony the next day.
"When the phone rings, you never know where in the world it's coming from, and you never know what the question will be," said Gandy, who is no relation to the person who built the Gandy Bridge.
The school's valedictorian stops by, wanting to know if Gandy can help him with his graduation speech. Two students drop off scholarship applications; another wants information about accessing SAT scores online.
Two students are busy on the computers, which have Internet access. Another is scanning a book on how to improve your SAT scores. Another is complaining about a teacher who took away her cell phone.
Rows of mugs from colleges and universities around the country line the room, known around the school as "Gandyland." They are souvenirs from the 128 college recruiters who visit Plant each year and from the dozens of others who mail information.
Her classroom-size office is new this year and has 14 computers. Six file cabinets hold information on universities, two-year colleges, trade schools, scholarships and financial aid. One has a title card that reads "Unique majors."
The Plant High Academic Foundation sets aside $4,000 a year to help run the center, but Gandy put it together.
Gandy prides herself on finding scholarships that few people know about. She gleans information from magazines, flyers, the Internet and her 18 years of developing sources in college financial aid offices.
"My point to the students is, "Someone's going to win it, why not you?' "
Gandy has found national scholarships that only a half-dozen students have applied for.
"She really has the inside scoop," said Debra Jo Radke, a parent volunteer in the center.
Gandy encouraged students to apply for a $500 scholarship from a local orthodontist. The scholarship required applicants to write an essay on "What does a smile mean to me?"
So, for about a week, she asked every student who came through the door, "Could you use $500 this week?" Radke said. "She's good at catching them off-guard. She gives them something like that and a lot of times they'll bite."
Student Don Greiwe won the smile scholarship, with an essay he said he wrote at the last minute at Gandy's urging.
Four years ago, Gandy decided to start a rowing club at Plant. She knew nothing about the sport but had discovered that several universities offered rowing scholarships, especially to women.
"You can't get a scholarship if you haven't had any training," she said.
Today, 130 kids belong to the rowing club, which Gandy plans to volunteer for during her retirement. One of them, senior Anna Samaha, will attend the University of Virginia next year. She's the first Plant student to win a rowing scholarship, which will cover half of her tuition.
"Sometimes we'll just get into conversations and keep talking and talking," Samaha said of Gandy. "She knows people. She can take one look at you and be like, "Okay, what's wrong?' "
Anna's mother, Marilyn Samaha, said Gandy guides families through the process of applying for colleges and financial aid but doesn't try to influence their decisions.
She told the Samahas to take it at their own pace when Anna was being recruited by several colleges. "She was like, "You know who you are, you know what you can bring. It will all sift out in the end. You'll know where you need to be,' " Marilyn Samaha said.
Another student walks into Gandy's office. Tien Tran wants to know what he should wear to the school's awards ceremony and where he should sit. Gandy tells him to sit up front and wait for his name to be called.
Tran doesn't know it, but he's won a $500 scholarship to assist him at the University of South Florida - thanks to Gandy, who made sure his application was complete and turned in on time.
