'Queensborough showed up for me so I could push through for myself'

June 29, 2021

'Queensborough showed up for me so I could push through for myself'

Personalized text nudges from Persistence Plus helped a working mom stay motivated, access support, and ultimately graduate.

Serena Fahnbulleh Crain

About

5 min read

Persistence Plus nudges offered timely, relevant guidance that helped Simmons overcome academic and emotional hurdles—turning data-driven technology into human connection.

The texting service made Queensborough’s care tangible, showing how colleges can reach and retain nontraditional students balancing work, family, and study.

Simmons, now pursuing a psychology degree at Medgar Evers, calls the program “the best thing ever”—a model for how compassionate technology can drive equity and break generational barriers.

Queensborough Community College graduate April Simmons (’21) credits personalized text messages from Persistence Plus with helping her stay enrolled and succeed through some of the toughest moments of her life. A single mother from Brooklyn who returned to college while working full-time, Simmons found encouragement and connection in the college’s behavioral nudging program—receiving consistent, caring texts about resources like tutoring, time management, and food assistance. Those simple check-ins reminded her she wasn’t alone and guided her to the support she needed to pass courses, persist through COVID-19 hardships, and ultimately graduate.

Read how one student’s story shows the power of digital nudges to turn care into completion.

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Serena Fahnbulleh Crain

Senior Director of Partner Success

Serena oversees Persistence Plus’s partnerships, collaborating with college administrators and staff at Ohio University, Stark State, and others to increase student success and retention across settings, contexts, and student populations. She frequently presents to college audiences and she has led workshops about addressing student challenges using behavioral science since 2017. A former admissions director at University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, she received her Master’s of Science in Education Policy from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education.