Meghana graduated from Duke University in May 2021 with distinction as a Biology major with Global Health and Chemistry minors. For her gap year before medical school, she is working as a college adviser in a high school in Raleigh, North Carolina, as part of Duke’s College Advising Corps (CAC) program. The CAC works to increase the number of low-income, First Generation College, and underrepresented high school students in rural North Carolina who enter and complete higher education. Duke currently has 18 college advisers in central North Carolina high schools. Even many of the highest-achieving disadvantaged students — young men and women who are well qualified to continue their education beyond high school — do not consider attending a four-year college, and many who say they plan to apply, never do. The national student-to-guidance-counselor ratio of 467:1 means that the average student spends 20 minutes per year talking to his or her counselor. Moreover, low-income and first-generation students are particularly underserved, with many never seeing a college adviser. Meghana believes that education can change individual and community trajectories. Attending Duke University, a school with a daunting acceptance rate of only 9.9 percent during the 2017-2018 admissions cycle, seemed unlikely; however, Giri experienced firsthand the power of an invested college adviser, who took time to know each students’ personal stories before knowing their post-graduation plans. For Meghana, her dreams are now her story. Meghana has future plans to become a doctor and use her experience working in the CAC to inform health education/literacy community outreach initiatives.To read the article on Meghana, “The Ripple Effect of College Education Access”, click this link: https://bit.ly/3g59gQN Meghana, like you, we are also thankful for Mrs. Jacqueline Gaines providing the tools for our upperclassmen to be successful navigating their college path. We know you are a bright light for your students as an adviser.
