Clarke Central High School College Adviser Tavaria Smith sits at her desk in the front office on Jan. 31 working on her goals for the 2021-22 school year. Smith created goals in a number of areas in order to guide her work with CCHS students. “My goal for (the number of students that have) at least one application submitted is 288 seniors, and then for (students that have) three or more applications submitted, my goal is 196 seniors,” Smith said. “Right now I’m at (about) half of that.” Photo by Isabella Westrich
College Adviser Tavaria Smith is currently focused on getting college applications submitted for seniors.
Although College Adviser Tavaria Smith’s job of preparing students for college changes as students reach different stages in the college application process, her focus is always on helping Clarke Central High School students plan their futures.
Currently, Smith is helping seniors get the required elements for college applications and submitting them.
“I’ve started back having one-on-one (meetings) with (senior) students so I can kind of get an individual basis of what they need now,” Smith said. “Some of them have applied to 10 schools, and I’ve got some that are really anxious because they (have) applied to none and they feel like they’re behind and that’s not the case.”
Once applications are submitted, Smith’s focus will switch to payment for college enrollment.
“If (students) are accepted, they start getting something called the financial aid package, which basically is the cost of attendance and what the school is offering, whether that be any grants or scholarships,” Smith said. “Students can compare these costs of attendance and how much they would need to go to these schools at that point. And then that’s how a lot of them make their decisions.”
“If you’re a senior, don’t worry about what others are doing, what your peers are doing, focus on your own path.”
— Tavaria Smith,
College Adviser
Senior Katelyn Cade was accepted into Georgia Southwestern University after applying through early admissions. Throughout the school year, she met with Smith, who helped her navigate the admissions process.
“(Smith has helped me with) making sure that I have met the needs of going to college, which is applications and which is scholarships, because college is expensive so you need scholarships in order to pay for it. (Also) making sure that I keep up on everything, because keeping up with deadlines is really important,” Cade said. “I probably met with (Smith) about three or four times but I emailed her a lot, just to make sure that I had a good understanding of what I needed to get done.”
Smith believes that mindset is important as students apply for colleges.
“If you’re a senior, don’t worry about what others are doing, what your peers are doing, focus on your own path. Because once you try to compare yourself to others, that’s when you make yourself more anxious and more worried,” Smith said.
