By Brenda Sutherlin
Nicole Ricketts is the Coordinator of Student Advocacy, Special Projects, and Discipline Student Services for Calhoun Community College. She presented an online mentoring information seminar on November 8, 2022, for first-generation students interested in attending Calhoun.
The focus of the seminar was to inform first-generation participants of a mentoring program. This program is designed for students who are first-generation college students and are considering Calhoun. To be eligible for this program the student’s parents must not possess a bachelor’s degree.
She advised that anyone who is interested in the program or knows someone who will qualify should contact the potential student and let the student know that there is a mentoring program that can help the transition process from high school to college.
Ricketts said that the most important thing at present is for the student to start the application process and apply for financial aid if needed. Scholarships are also available and will be open until February 1, 2023. Although the student has not graduated from high school the application process should be started and not delayed until graduation or May 2023.
Students must be enrolled at Calhoun before they are able to access the mentoring program. Once students are enrolled, they will be directed to the Calhoun Portal where they can access all their information and make contacts.
The student will be paired with a mentor who is also a first-generation college graduate and a full-time faculty or staff administrator. The mentoring session will meet once a month until the end of the school year. Ricketts said this program will give students the “inside scoop on college and how to navigate the system.”
Ricketts was asked, what if a student does not know what field they want to pursue? She said her advice would be for the student to, “take general education classes that would apply to a lot of academic fields.” She also would urge potential students to schedule a campus visit in Spring 2023 if a Calhoun Career Day is not held on their school campus.
For more information, Nicole Ricketts can be reached at: nicole.ricketts@calhoun.edu or 256-306-2870