MEDIA, Pa. — Amy Miller-Spavlik joined Penn State Brandywine as a financial aid specialist in January. Coming from the School District of Philadelphia as a guidance counselor, Miller-Spavlik is looking forward to working with students and helping them through the financial aid application process.
Brandywine: What is your background and previous experience?
Miller-Spavlik: I was a high school guidance counselor in the School District of Philadelphia for 31 years, so I have been helping students with financial aid for over 30 years.
Brandywine: What was your deciding factor in coming to work for Penn State Brandywine?
Miller-Spavlik: I’ve known about Penn State Brandywine for many years. Many of my students attended Brandywine. In addition, I knew that when I changed career paths, I wanted to work in a college setting and Penn State Brandywine was one of my top choices.
Brandywine: What are you looking forward to most during your time at Brandywine?
Miller-Spavlik: I’m really looking forward to working with students and helping them with financial aid. The financial aid application process can be very intimidating, and I want to help students work through it. Also, I’m looking forward to working with parents and families; parents have anxiety about applying and helping their students, so I want to be there to guide them as well.
Brandywine: What are some goals you would like to accomplish during your time at Brandywine?
Miller-Spavlik: My goal is to stress the importance of applying for financial aid to Penn State Brandywine students and make sure they’re on top of the process. I want to be able to reach out to students ahead of time to get them to complete the application as early as possible. I also have a passion of sharing scholarships to students through TikTok. There are so many attainable scholarships that students can apply for to make college more affordable. My TikTok account is @PhillyCounselor. All the scholarships I share, I also provide a link to the scholarship in my Linktree.
Brandywine: What are some of your interests? What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Miller-Spavlik: Since I retired from being a guidance counselor, my husband and I have been doing a lot of traveling. Over the summer, we went to Alaska, and I recently went on a trip traveling the Pacific Coast Highway in California. I enjoy biking and seeing nature. My daughter recently got engaged in California and I am looking forward to helping her plan the wedding.