Mayfair's College and Career Center

The College and Career Center is a place where all students are welcomed to come and go if they have any questions regarding their grades, college applications, dual enrollment, and CalAps. The counselors here are very welcoming. It is even a safe and quiet space to just sit and do homework during off periods. So, I decided to interview them to gain more insight on this center here at Mayfair.

Q: What do you guys do here in the career center? 

Ms. Ozier said, “One of the main focuses is helping students prepare for college. So, we help students with their college applications, 4-year college applications, as well as community college applications. We also help students with their financial aid applications, helping them look for scholarships.”

Ms. Saucedo says, “We also do dual enrollment. So, for any student who wants to take college classes already, we can get them started with that. So, we do the whole process with them, which is doing an online application, searching for classes, doing the paperwork, and then making sure that they follow through and are assisted all the way through.”

 Ms. Reyes said, "In the beginning of the year, like seniors, we try to look over all the transcripts to try to save those students that may be very close, or able to being able to apply to a Cal State or UCs, that they have the gpa, or maybe their not having an A-G class. So then we catch up with them so they can enroll in that class so they can make it up, and not only that, we try to check in to see how we can help them depending on what type of path they're planning to take after. We have helped students, maybe looking for a job, and if they do end up choosing a job or something, we help them with their resume; we also have resume templates too. Once they apply to the job and they get an interview, they can also practice with us."

Q: How do you guys feel the college application process was for Cal States and UCs?

Ms. Ozier stated, “Yeah, I thought it was awesome; we had a lot of students come through the college and career center to get help with their college applications this year. And we had pretty good numbers, as far as students who submitted applications, compared to other years. So, I feel like it's been really helpful having a full staff here in the college and career center to be able to be open more for students and to help students with their applications. The deadline just passed for Cal States and UCs, but it is open for some of the Cal State schools that have later deadlines, so there are still opportunities for students to apply to some of the Cal State schools if they're interested, as well as out-of-state colleges and private colleges that have later deadlines, and also our community colleges.”

Ms. Saucedo said, “I think it went pretty well. We had more students this year; the total for Cal States was 136, and for UCs, it was 75, so that many students applied for Cal States and UCs. We also had our nacho day, which brought in a lot of students. We ran out of Chromebooks, so that just says it was a very popular event.”

Ms. Reyes added, "And then an estimate for right now for community colleges is 123 starting from October to all the way today, December 4." 

Q: Do you guys ever feel like helping the students gets a little stressful? 

Ms. Saucedo's opinion was, I would say sometimes it can be. I think sometimes we want to help the students more, and we really want them to come in and get help, and I feel like sometimes we do have to chase students around. But I think we really care about what we do, and so we'll find a student. 

Ms. Reyes’ take on this was, “So, it's always just a matter of getting their attention to come in. So then, what we did this year was we went into classrooms, we did an intro so they can get familiar with who works in the college and career center, and then later on we talked to them about college applications and about deadlines and told them we're here to help them get started. And then, we also did a financial aid workshop, where we let students know what it is and why it is a requirement and how it's going to help them out later on.”

Ms. Ozier said, “The only thing that can be a little bit stressful is when students wait until the very last minute to try to get something done, and they're up against a time constraint; that can be a little stressful. But, otherwise, it's not too stressful; we love helping students, so I think we're happy when students come in to get help.”

Lastly, Ms. Reyes further added, “Or, there might be students who are eligible with a good GPA and all their A-Gs, and then we’re like, why not? Not because we want to force them but because they can have that consideration and an option to be like, “Oh wow, I didn't know I was eligible for this, and now that I've received my financial aid packet, it's a thing that I can consider going to.”

Here in the College and Career Center, the staff prides themselves on being welcoming. Ms. Ozier says that Ms. Reyes especially is because every time a student walks in, she greets them and asks how she can help. They want the students to feel and know this is a resource for them whenever and whatever they need help with. When students come in to do homework or just share about their day and things at home, they think it's really nice. They rate the career center a 10/10, and I definitely agree with that. Ms. Reyes says it's because they know there's something there within us as a person, and we have a reason to be here. They try to bond and build relationships with students and love seeing their growth each quarter.