College Possible is a non-profit Americorps organization making college admission and success possible for low-income students through coaching and support, where students meet twice a week to work on college-readiness materials. A typical College Possible session for juniors would be learning tips and tricks on the ACT. For seniors, the main focus is college applications and getting ready for college.

North High School offers this program to sophomores who will then continue to partake in this organization for their last two years of High School. To give us more information on what College Possible is really like, I sat down with our junior and senior coaches, Padra Xiong and Nicole Zettler.

Padra, our junior coach, decided to become a college possible coach because she was involved with College Possible in college and it was a helpful tool whenever she was confused or lost when applying for FAFSA or other things necessary for college. Her goal as a coach is to build good relationships with her students and be of help to them whenever they feel uneasy or lost. Especially with the big ACT test coming up for our junior class, she hopes that she can help them in any way possible to get them the score they want.

Nicole, our senior coach, wishes she had the opportunity to be a part of College Possible as a high school student. Being a part of College Possible enables you to get more information about how to better prepare for college and what steps are necessary to get you to where you want to be in your next chapter after high school. Even as a senior coach, Nicole is still learning things about college that she never knew before and she is excited to help young adults while also learning from them herself. Nicole is most excited about Fall Service Day, which is a day where all the College Possible students around the area come together to give back to their community.

We’ve heard from our coaches, now let’s hear from some of our classmates who are currently a part of College Possible.

Hlee Thao is a junior here at North, who is involved in Show Choir and College Possible. She heard about College Possible from one of her senior friends, and her friend assured her that College Possible will definitely prepare her for college. So far, College Possible has helped her practice for the ACT and get to know her fit factors for colleges that she is interested in.

Freddy Valle, a senior, learned about College Possible through a friend and also through advertisements during lunch. College Possible has helped him find credible websites that he can use to apply for scholarships. It has also helped him in narrowing his options for college to find one that will best suit him and his interests. When asked what he would like to say to students who are interested in College Possible, Freddy said, “Just sign up for it. There is no penalty. It really does give you a lot of information about where to look for colleges and piques interests in different colleges that you’ve never heard of or never thought of applying to.”

College Possible is recruiting sophomores in February of this school year. I definitely encourage you to put some thought into joining this organization because it will really help you prepare for college and answer any questions or concerns you may have. Growing up is not easy, but having an extra hand to help you get where you want to be will most definitely make your life a little easier. For more questions about College Possible, contact Padra Xiong and Nicole Zettler, who can be found in the Media Center.