From the moment Sofia Moreno speaks, her passion is easy to feel.
As she shares her own story about college, highlighting her family’s inexperience, the inflection of her voice is elevated.
Get her talking about the role she plays as part of Madera Community College’s College Relations and Outreach program, and the hint of frustration transforms into pure excitement.
“I don’t want other people like me who come from an underprivileged, low-income area incurring all of this debt when you don’t have to,” Moreno said. “There’s another path to that end goal and for some students, it may not even be a degree.”
If students in the classroom are the lifeblood of college, consider Moreno and her team of ambassadors the heartbeat, as it would be difficult to have one without the other.
A Fresno native who once contemplated a career in journalism, Moreno’s path to joining Madera’s outreach team is a bit winding. She earned her bachelor’s degree from UC Santa Barbara and a master’s degree from USC before deciding the path she was on wasn’t where she wanted to be.
Moreno’s work as an adjunct English professor led her to a pair of conclusions – she loved working with students and she wasn’t a fan of reading term papers and grading quizzes.
After getting what she calls a “foot-in-the-door job” in admissions with Reedley College, Moreno parlayed that experience to earn the role as Outreach Specialist for Madera beginning in fall 2019. Following years of searching, the mother of four finally had the career that gave her what she was looking for.
“I still get my student interaction. I oversee 17 student ambassadors. I get to engage with them every single day. I get to visit my high schools weekly and engage with the students there. I get to go to community events and engage with the community. All of this and I don’t have to grade papers,” Moreno joked. “I still get that fix. I still feel like I’m helping students. I want them to see that end goal. It’s cool to see a student enter and then graduate – but I don’t have the burden of grading their papers.”
Moreno’s success in helping high school students across Madera County navigate college hinges on one thing – being relatable. And she doesn’t do it alone.
While her own story is one about the importance of understanding what an educational path looks like, Moreno knows she’s often looked at by young people as the adult in the room. That’s where her talented group of ambassadors come in.
These 17 individuals are current or recent students from MCC who share Moreno’s commitment to helping others find their way. Thanks to the college’s longstanding relationship with Madera Unified School District, Moreno and the outreach ambassadors are able to meet with students inside high schools, helping guide them through all of the processes related to college, from applying for financial aid to choosing their major and courses.
And during COVID, the team utilized an abundance of creativity to keep potential enrollees engaged.
While students weren’t allowed in a physical space together, the Madera outreach team created a Google Classroom to house all needed information, provided Zoom information sessions, uploaded step-by-step videos to YouTube and adapted to the learning environment the students they were working with were required to utilize. All of those adjustments came just months after Moreno took the job, forcing her and the team to truly learn on the fly.
They made it work, but being able to resume face-to-face engagement has been a welcome return.
“When we got back into the classroom, the goal was how do we make them laugh, even if it’s stupid, to get their attention,” Moreno said. “The ambassadors and I, we thrive on that, the interpersonal interaction with students, the connections. It’s been amazing to be back in the high schools, back at community events so we get to engage with people because engagement is so much different in person.”
Moreno’s message is straightforward. Whether speaking to high school students in a classroom, managing an online information session or taking part in an afterhours engagement event, the college has something for everyone, even those who aren’t interested in eventually going to a four-year institution.
Her journey to this place was not always easy and she’s faced similar challenges like the students she’s working with. Her goal is to help them find a simpler route to success.
“I looked like them. I came from the same area. They were amazed that this brown lady in front of them, ‘Oh my gosh, she’s from Fresno too. Oh my gosh, she grew up on the west side.’ That is exciting,” Moreno said. “That’s what I tell my students, ‘You may not be interested in a degree right now, but you need a skill. You don’t have to earn a degree, but you still have to learn something. They just don’t hire you if you don’t know anything.”
If you would like to speak with Sofia or a member of our Outreach team about enrolling at Madera Community College, please email outreach@maderacollege.edu or call us at 559-675-4839!
