Sports and activities were cancelled, but schoolwork, college prep, and college applications continued full speed ahead for Janeaya Ramos.
Janeaya was a senior with big plans for the future. She was applying to colleges across the nation; she’s planning to join the Air Force ROTC program and study petroleum engineering. After finishing her degree and serving in the Air Force, she’d also like to get her teaching degree in Elementary mathematics and attend culinary school.
During her senior year at Arrupe Jesuit High School in Denver, her high school counselors assisted her with college prep and ensuring she had the tools she needed to continue to be successful while she learned 100 percent from home.
One of those tools was high–speed internet.
Thanks to Internet Essentials from Comcast, an affordable internet program for people who qualify, Janeaya and her sister (who is also learning remotely) now have high–speed internet in their home.
The Internet Essentials program has made school very easy. I don’t have to stress. When we didn’t have internet in the past, me and my sister would have to go to the library or McDonalds or something. Now that we have internet, we don’t have to worry about finding a ride somewhere, we don’t have to worry about being able to do our schoolwork,” Ramos said.
Having home internet also allowed her to participate in college prep programs at Georgetown, Santa Clara University, and Marquette over the summer; the programs were online instead of on campus.
There are many students who currently lack the tools they need to be successful, and that gap has worsened since COVID shutdowns. Ramos and her family are very happy to have Internet Essentials and recommend the program.
Anyone who is thinking about applying for Internet Essentials should really do it. It lifts a lot stress that we don’t have to worry about an expensive internet bill,” Ramos said.
Comcast has connected more than 300,000 low-income Coloradans to the internet at home through Internet Essentials since launching the program in 2011; and since COVID-19, Comcast has connected thousands more students and families to the power of the internet at home.
Families and students who are eligible for public assistance programs such as the National School Lunch Program, Housing Assistance, Medicaid, SNAP, SSI, and others can sign up for Internet Essentials from Comcast and get high-speed internet for $9.95 a month as well as computers at a discounted price. Additionally, families who sign up by June 30, 2021 will recieve free Internet service for the first 60 days.