Student Success Story: Maria Reyes Connects at Manchester Community College
Surveys indicate that a solid connection with a faculty or staff member can lead a student toward a more successful college experience. If that is the case, Manchester Community College student Maria Reyes is well on her way.
“I’ve worked everywhere,” Reyes said of the variety of work-study positions she has held on campus. “I’ve worked in the admissions office, the president’s office, and in student affairs. I have also done campus tours.”
And who has been most influential? “They have all found a way to help me,” she said.
Reyes, who is paying her own tuition as well as living expenses, says that MCC has provided her with the support system of a second home. “The college has given me direction,” she said. ”It has opened a lot of doors for jobs and for advice on scholarships – I didn’t even know that they had scholarships.”
Reyes, who is a health and exercise science major, moved to the United States from Pereira, Colombia with her brother and father just before entering high school five years ago. When she arrived, she did not speak English, but took advantage of English as a Second Language (ESL) courses at Hartford Public High where she graduated in 2012, and now speaks with barely a trace of an accent.
“She is a great kid,” said Shelley Craig, administrative assistant, who supervises Reyes in her current work-study job in the Student Affairs office. “She struggles like any international student would in a foreign country but anytime I need anything, she is always there.”
Reyes has come a long way from the day she first arrived in Connecticut in the summer of 2008. She is no longer intimidated by the language, tall buildings or the abundance of food available in comparatively wealthy North America.
After graduation, which she anticipates next May, Reyes has her sights on one of the Health Fitness certifications offered by the American College of Sports Medicine in Indianapolis, Ind., with the hopes of someday returning to Colombia to open a health center.
