SOAR team adds new staff and attracts freshmen

The student Outreach and Recruitment team (SOAR) at MHCC recently accepted Jamie Alwine, as part-time outreach specialist for Mt. Hood’s new Student Success Grant effort, and Rebecca Rodas, as full-time student recruiter and co-adviser to the SOAR team.

SOAR’s main agenda is to recruit and help students from all types of educational backgrounds, and is also in charge of leading campus tours and giving presentations at local high schools. “We are the ones who are having direct contact with students,” said Rodas, “and we have the power to voice what is working and what isn’t.”

Another part of what SOAR does is to make sure students know what their options are and direct them to services on campus that are built to help them achieve their goals – something that is often especially difficult for first-generation college students. Alwine found her own experience as a first-generation student to be challenging on its own, dropping out several times because of financial hardships and just feeling overwhelmed and unsupported.

“It wasn’t until I reached out and made connections with on-campus resources that I finally began to succeed in school,” she said. Alwine later graduated from The Evergreen State College (TESC) in Olympia, Washington, with a bachelor’s degree in Education and Multicultural Studies.

One goal that Alwine and Rodas share is to establish and create connections within the community and helping students access information and resources they need in order to earn their certificate or degree. A goal of Rodas’ is to find ways to increase exposure of MHCC and its resources and programs it offers students. “If we work cohesively as a team, we can better serve our students,” she said.

Alwine also has a particular goal concerning incarcerated youth. Rather than have youth spiral away from school after imprisonment, Alwine wants to interrupt the trend of recidivism and work on having students attend school and find work. “I previously volunteered and worked with Gateways for Incarcerated Youth, a college access program for youth in Chehalis, Washington where youth could earn college credits at TESC while incarcerated.”

Even though this year’s group of SOAR members consists of a lot of freshmen, Rodas isn’t concerned. “The first-year students are picking things up very quickly and they never hesitate to take on a new task or project.… Everything is still very fresh for them—the enrollment process, deciding on a program to study, test preparation methods — which is something very valuable to share with the high school students we reach out to.”

With the two new leaders, along with everyone else on the SOAR team, there is going to be a lot of progress made in both the near and far future here at MHCC. SOAR applications open in April.

Advocate Staff