A Day in the Life of the College Center

The College and Career Center is a staple of Samo that guides students through the college admissions process, but much more goes on behind the scenes than most students realize. There are three counselors to guide students through the college admissions process. All students are split up alphabetically to ensure everyone has a counselor to talk to. Ernesto Flores has students A-G, Julie Honda has H-N and Rosa Mejia has O-Z. All three counselors are busy each day meeting with both juniors and seniors, planning their lives after high school. Students get an entire period to have a one on one discussion on college requirements, universities, majors, extracurricular activities and many other topics. Students are able to log onto their counselor’s availability calendar and are able to select what period they would like to meet with them.  “One of the first things I do is check to see what appointments I have for the day. I usually try to have five or six meetings per da, so students have access to us. There are also usually a lot of emails that we get from students,” Flores said. Counselors meet with juniors in the spring and seniors in the fall. For seniors, the questions are always revolving around college. Students are introduced to Naviance, which is an online tool for résumé-building, and where students have access to assessment tools. “I do give a lot of comments and feedback on personal statements and essays. A lot of students ask opinions on schools because we have some very ambitious students with a lot of great schools that they’re interested in, so it’s our job to help them determine whether a school is a reach school, a target school or a safe school,” Flores said. “With juniors, it’s a completely different talk. For them, it’s checking up on how they’re doing now and to initiate the college application talk.” Juniors are advised on the SAT and ACT and knowing the differences, knowing when they should take those exams, encouraging participation in extracurriculars, making college lists and trying to come up with plans for the summer so they stay productive. “We’re split up alphabetically so everyone has someone to meet with, but we encourage students to always feel welcome to ask any of us questions. If they don’t want to work with the individual for their alphabetical group, we tell students to pick whichever counselor they want. But they should make sure they are consistent with one person,” Flores said. Besides guiding students through the college application process, Flores leads project Reaching Bigger Goals (RBG), which is a college club whose mission is to increase the college-going culture at Samo. The club currently has 36 members, most of whom are seniors. The club meets every Tuesday in the college center at lunchtime. Currently, RBG is giving a college presentation to every freshman seminar class. “That’s what I love about our group is that we have very committed students that come in from 5-8 to learn about the admissions process, college requirements, and being able to present to freshman seminar classes. Students are partnered, so during the two hour block schedule, the RBG members present to the freshmen a powerpoint on the different types of colleges, differences between SAT and ACT and the importance of extracurricular activities to help the freshmen learn now so they can start preparing for college applications,” Flores said. Another important event that the college center plans at Samo is Senior Honors Night. The counselors are currently working on coordinating the event that will host around 400-500 people. “I like to compare it to graduation because it’s a one night event where students and family are invited to Barnum Hall where they are recognized on stage for certain accomplishments and scholarship awards. So that in itself is like putting on graduation because there are so many people, and invitations, donors and guest speakers,” Flores said. The college and career center plays an important role in educating Samo students about options for after high school, but it also serves as a place where students can go simply if they need to talk something over. The college center has computers and a printer available to students and provides a place for students to come and study or just hang out. “We’re not house advisors, but we are counselors, so we always have students coming in just wanting to talk about something. It’s not just college and career advising, but also just being an advisor. We try to have a welcoming environment so that students feel comfortable coming here,” Flores said. “Our goal is to make sure students know they have options. A lot of people think it’s the college center, but it’s also the career center. A lot of students are looking to take a gap year or go into the military, so our goal is to prepare students for life after high school not just college.”