-New College Counselor Comes to Kean

by Jamalla France

There is a new college counselor at Ivanna Eudora Kean High School, and her name is Ms. Patricia Swan. She was hired this year to work with the senior class to help them find colleges and scholarships. The Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands, which acts as a clearinghouse for many local scholarships, funded her position.

Students can find her in the library or her office next to Mrs. Annette Bertrand, the senior counselor. Students have to make an appointment with Ms. Swan so she can help them find the colleges that are right for them.

In high school Ms. Swan thought she wanted to be a court reporter / stenographer, then she wanted to be a teacher and a counselor. She started her first counseling job in the fall of 1991. She has been a counselor for 22 years.

She graduated from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. Smith College is a one of the Seven Sisters Colleges; it been there for 200 years. She decided she wanted to be a counselor after her first year in college and took a number of education and psychology classes to qualify. She was inspired by a head college teacher named Mrs. Hewitt and a mentor named Mrs. Daley. Her favorite subject in school was History.

Ms. Swan has studied in Brazil and coordinated a conference for women to play sports. In her spare time she enjoys reading, going to the beach and spending a lot of time with her dog.

Her goal for the senior class is for them to find good colleges and careers. The challenges she faces in her job right now are getting the parents to understand that a lot has changed since they were in highschool, and getting the students to find the right college for them.

Senior Dennisha Dias said, “Ms. Swan has helped me get things done more efficiently in less time. She helped guide me out of my frazzled college application dilemmas. She has helped me narrow my search and directed me on the right path because she has personally taken the time to get to know me --what I'm about--and my future plans.”

Ingrid Berry, another 12th grader said, “Ms Swan has helped me with my college and scholarship search by answering all of my questions. She made me find colleges that I would never have looked at because they’re not ‘big name’ colleges. Every time there is a scholarship workshop or opportunity, she hunts me down to inform me about it; she emails college information scholarship information and even helps edit the essay I write.”

Ms Annette Bertrand

Ms. Swan has been a blessing to Ms. Annette Bertrand, the senior counselor who works with 210 students everyday. When asked about the problems students face when applying for colleges, Ms. Bertrand replied, “Well there are many problems; they start too late to do their college searches.

“Secondly they become overwhelmed,” she explained. “A lot of times the student doesn't prepare for the S.A.T. The S.A.T. helps you get into good colleges, and it’s a problem because the students don't want to write the essay.”

Paying for college is also a problem, said Ms. Bertrand, and that’s why it’s so important that seniors take advantage of Ms. Swan’s expertise. “There are thousands of thousands of scholarships out there for students. Last year $5.5 millions of scholarships was raised. I think [seniors] have a chance of [getting more] this year if they write their college essays and apply for all scholarships, which are based on need or merit.”

When asked what are her goals for senior class, she replied, “Well right now my goal is to help the students get organized, which means meeting deadlines and providing them with their life goals, whether they want to go to college, a trade school, or a university, and help our school as much as possible meet the $5.5 millions in scholarships.”