LEWISTON — The five students in the College Transition Program at Lewiston Adult Education celebrated the end of months of classes and received advice and encouragement for the next stage of their educations recently.

The free 14-week program reviewed reading, writing and math skills in a college-style setting at the B Street Community Center, 57 Birch St. The work included an expanded focus on time management as well as finding and applying for scholarships.

College Transition Program Instructor Amy Hatch told the students how proud she was of them at the start of the celebration. “It shows hard work does pay off,” she said. “You made it to the end.”

Hatch awarded certificates to the graduates: Nasra Houssein,Tim Blanchard, Yussuf Mohamud, Chantal Kalau and Malumba Ndoluvua.

A number of previous College Transition Program students gave advice based on their college experience and talked about future plans, including working to get a master’s degree in business administration. While they all had different majors and paths in college, they emphasized perseverance and the importance of asking about scholarships.

One piece of advice for scholarships was to save what students had written on applications. Scholarships tend to ask applicants similar questions and holding onto what was they had answered before could save time.

Hatch stressed the importance of applying. Sometimes scholarship money is not given away because no one has applied, she said.

Students received pieces of advice from a former College Transition Program instructor who now works for the Maine Department of Education. Amy Poland, professional development coordinator for adult education, began her remarks on post-secondary education by saying, “Don’t be afraid to ask for help. No one is going to advocate for you. You really have to do it yourself.”