FOUNDER
College Excel is the brainchild of founder Jeannie Crowell, who spent 25 years of her life as a counselor.
In 2003 College Excel began with 2 people – one with a passion for teaching the un-teachable student and the other with a passion for helping young people who struggle to anchor themselves successfully in the adult world. Both saw a need to bring transformation to students who have been challenged by life.
One of those founding partners is Jeannie Crowell. In 2012 she took over as sole Executive Director and in all the years she has invested in College Excel she has never lost her passion for bringing transformation in to the lives of young adults. As a Learning specialist and counselor she has insight, compassion and a unique set of skills that have been critical in helping to bring permanent change to the lives of students and their families.
Jeannie’s Own Words:
"I know what obstacles look like and the hard work it takes to let go of your past. I was an experiential learner with undiagnosed ADD, which made my journey rich with lessons, but hard on my soul.
At 21 years old, I'd hit rock bottom 4 or 5 times. I dropped out of high school and then college, unable to follow through with school. I tried to self-medicate the feelings I was hiding – thinking I was just lazy, stupid or maybe even crazy. I was scared about my future, but hid the fear and anxiety I was experiencing behind the drugs that had become my best friends.
I lost my self-confidence, burned my bridges and was sick of the life I was leading, but didn’t know what to do about it. I thought about giving up completely, but there was always something inside of me that held out hope. I had dreams about who I could be, but I was so lost that I stopped letting people help me.
Eventually, I ended up finding a few people I could trust. I told them my story, my true story, and they listened without judgment. The compassion and understanding they showed me saved my life. They saw through my disguises to the real me. They believed in "the me" that I had lost. This event changed my life forever. I am so thankful that someone stopped long enough to really see me. They helped me understand that the things that I felt so ashamed of doing, were only coping mechanisms I had developed in order to survive my life.
It was at that point that I finally knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to help others avoid the tragedies I had experienced in my life. I wanted to be able to reach out and offer them a place to find themselves again."
