Lisa Pawlak received her B.A. in Communication at University of California, San Diego. She is a well-published personal essayist and eight-time recipient of outstanding journalism awards from the San Diego Press Club. Look for her work in The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, The Huffington Post, Grown & Flown, San Diego Family, Carlsbad Magazine, and the best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul series. Lisa developed a passion for college admissions strategies after coaching her own kids through the college admissions process (Caltech, UCLA, and Princeton). She is a native Californian and loves to walk, read, cook, and eat chocolate.