Mentor program pairs college students with high-schoolers

Michelle Warren, The Chronicle, Willimantic, Conn.
·2 min read

Apr. 4—WILLIMANTIC — There was not much assistance available for college- bound seniors at the Georgia high school Daniela Iniestra Varelas attended.

There was no one available to help her navigate the sometimes- complicated process of applying to college, trying to get financial aid and, simply, completing the journey from high school to academia.

Now, Iniestra Varelas, a first- generation college student, is providing Windham High School students with the kind of support she needed back then through a new university partnership.

She said it feels good to help students gain confidence when applying to college.

"Overall, it's been a really great experience," Iniestra Varelas said.

She was brought to WHS, where she works full- time, in the fall through a partnership with the University of Connecticut College Advising Corps. The UConn program is a partnership with College Advising Corps, a national nonprofit based in North Carolina.

There are more than 800 college advisers across the country through College Advising Corps, working with 33 university partners in 18 states.

Many of those helped by the advisers are low-income, under- represented and first- generation college students.

According to a press release from CAC, advisers work with seniors who plan to attend community college, trade school and four- year universities, as well as those who plan to join the military.

Iniestra Varelas said her focus has been on college- bound seniors. UConn CAC personnel currently work at five high schools in the state: Bristol Eastern High School in Bristol; East Haven High School in East Haven; Griswold High School in Griswold and Warren Harding High School in Bridgeport.

Individuals must have a bachelor's degree to be eligible to become a college adviser through CAC.

" It can be from any institution," said Iniestra Varelas, who has a bachelor's degree from Eastern Connecticut State University in sociology and a minor in political science that she earned in 2020.

She said she plans to start graduate school at UConn in the fall, where she will go for a master's degree in higher education and student affairs.

Iniestra Varelas will hold a graduate assistantship at the UConn Women's Center.

She said she hopes to work at a college to focus on student retention and success and called her full- time job at Windham High School a " stepping stone."

After taking two years off school, Iniestra Varelas said she was able to reconnect with her old teachers and figure out " what I wanted to do

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' It feels like I'm working with my big sister,' Julianna Renda said of her time with Iniestra Varelas, who helped the WHS senior apply for financial aid.