Jesse Maloney

Within a few years, Jesse Maloney has gone from being a high school dropout working odd jobs to securing a prestigious internship as a research affiliate at MIT’s Center for Material Sciences. How she got there is a story of perseverance, hope and the power of pursuing your own potential.

"My mother raised me to believe in the value of education," she says proudly, "unfortunately, circumstances got in the way." When Jesse's father was incarcerated, her mother struggled to both support the family and obtain the additional education she
needed to get ahead. Jesse was called upon to help raise her younger siblings. "I had to start working when I was 13," she recounts. By high school, Jesse was overwhelmed and dropped out. "When you don't have the support, you’re faced with a difficult choice."

By 19, Jesse was determined to turn her life around. She was referred to X-Cel Adult Education Services, a United Way agency partner, where she received tutoring and earned her GED. Through X-Cel's College Transition Program, Jesse received the support and guidance she needed to enroll in Roxbury Community College. There, her interest in science soon became the key to an exciting new world of opportunities. "I started as a nursing major and became a certified nursing assistant," Jesse recalls. "Working in the nursing field exposed me to phlebotomy and lab work. I changed my major to biological science." She also became a science tutor to fellow students and a mentor to other young adults in the X-Cel program, all while raising an infant son. "Juggling everything was hard," she says. "I could have given up, but what good would that do?" Jesse's hard work and 3.96 GPA paid off, earning her a spot as an MIT research affiliate.

Confident and accomplished, Jesse now sees no limit to what she can achieve. She has applied to Boston University to obtain her bachelor's degree and envisions the kind of future that she didn’t even know existed when she first entered college. "I'd like to get my Ph.D. and work as a microbiologist. I’m interested in stem cell research," the young mother adds proudly.