Elen Poghosyan joined the Counseling Department during its busiest time: college admissions. Starting in late August, dozens of seniors at Gabrielino High School have begun working, and stressing over their college application, with their counselors supporting them every step of the way.
“I think I’m going through the motions with some of my students, but trying my best to not feel too overwhelmed,” Poghosyan said with a smile. ”I’m happy with the progress I’ve been seeing with my students and where they’re at, so I think that definitely gives me some peace of mind.”
Her background is in both school counseling and marriage and family therapy, having gone to graduate school at Cal State LA. Poghosyan was formerly an intern with the Wellness Center during the last year, replacing Amanda Ly while she went on maternity leave.
“I’m familiar with a lot of our students […] There are days I am like, putting on my hat as a therapist and providing more emotional support; other days, you know, mainly doing some counseling,” Poghosyan continued.
With early decision and early action deadlines already coming up in November, students have been frequently meeting with their counselors in October. Luckily, counselors had already started much of this work back in August.
“A big part of that is making sure if there’s any students who need to complete their A-G requirements that we’re making sure they are programmed in the required courses,” Joceyln Machado, another counselor at Gabrielino, explained. “August is [about] making sure that students are meeting those requirements that they need to get into college.”
Much of this work involves sorting hundreds of points of data for nearly 400 students split between 4 counselors, down from 5 last year.
This process picked up with various senior meetings in September, where groups of the Class of 2025 met together in the Goodson Theater and the College and Career Center. Seniors continued meeting with their counselors individually, devising and discussing their plans after graduation.
Machado emphasized that every senior is left with a “plan in place” after talking with their counselors at least once, whether that be college, trade school or entering the workforce.
“In addition to pulling that data, that’s our starting point, but definitely the personal conversation with the students and connecting with the students gives us that extra layer of support we need to navigate through this process,” Machado continued.
The College and Career Center has also been a crucial resource to seniors, headed by Kathreyne Fuentes and hosting various applications workshops as well as a variety of college visits year-round. During the fall, these presentations focus on 4-year institutions, transitioning to community college, and other career workshops in the spring.
Fuentes acts as a critical link between the Counseling Department and the colleges themselves.
“We do our scheduling through rep visits, which is through Naviance […] so the colleges will go in and look to see what our schedules are and then the colleges will schedule it with us,” Fuentes explained. “A lot of times they’re grouping their visits if they’re from out-of-state with other local surrounding areas.”
This process applied on a larger scale led to the college fair Gabrielino held on Oct. 23, where over 50 different colleges and institutions were present. Present were representatives from the California State Universities, Universities of California, and private colleges located in the big gym.
Darryl Pearson, a recruiter for USC, had many sage words of advice to give to students at Gabrielino. He talked about “merit” and how students could show it specifically in relation to USC’s merit scholarships. As a former teacher of 35 years, he has been with USC for 4 years and emphasized how well his alma mater has treated him.
For junior Peyton Ong, even though most colleges didn’t offer her intended field of study, virology, it was still valuable as colleges directed her to other related programs their institutions offered..
Just a few weeks earlier, Gabrielino students were offered a chance to visit Pomona College on Oct. 14.
“It was a personal invite, it was called their Exit 47 program, “ Fuentes elaborated. “They also were playing on the bus for that, which is huge. […] So that’s how we were able to go ahead and offer that to you students”.
A total of 36 students attended the field trip including Seniors Luoxi Peng and Brandon Wu.
“I never heard of Pomona, it was like a really good private institute, “ Peng commented. “They basically have enough money to give everyone a merit scholarship and pay like only a 1000 in tuition.”
Even though Peng doesn’t plan on applying to the school, it was still a good experience for him to interact with colleges. Regarding future visits, however, many obstacles remain.
“Participation’s hard, a lot of you guys don’t like to miss class,” noted Fuentes.
Yet, as admission deadlines grow ever closer, the preparations for the rest of the semester remain strong.
“We actually meet every single week for team meetings,” Poghosyan clarified. “A couple months ago too, we all met and decided which workshops we might be having on what days.”
Amid the worry and uncertainty of college admissions, Gabrielino students are being supported every step of the way. While stressful, it marks just one part of a student’s final year in high school.
“This is all of you going out into the world and […] this is the whole point of going to high school,” Machado remarked. “You graduate high school and you go out into the world.”
