A juxtapose shows Interim College Advisers Brionna Johnson and Shellby Branch standing in their shared office in the Administrative Suite. Johnson and Branch started at Clarke Central High School at the beginning of March and are working together to cover the college adviser position after former College Adviser Tavaria Smith left CCHS. “Both of us have different expertises. I’m familiar with college access, I’m also really familiar with applying to scholarships and what the essays look like, and since (Johnson) has done this work before, she has expertise in certain areas too,” Branch said. “Both of us are able to rely on each other, and I think we both come to the job with similar ideas and feelings. We want to seem really accessible to students, we want to make sure that they can ask us any questions and that we’re really just here to be helpful.” Photos by Isabella Westrich
Interim College Advisers Brionna Johnson and Shellby Branch are working together to help CCHS students plan their futures.
After former College Adviser Tavaria Smith left Clarke Central High School on Feb. 9, Interim College Advisers Brionna Johnson and Shellby Branch have served in her place. They started working at CCHS at the beginning of March and will continue to do so until the end of the 2021-22 school year.
Branch is working as the college adviser on Mondays while Johnson, who served as the college adviser from 2018 to 2020, is filling the position on Wednesdays. Both Branch and Johnson volunteered to help CCHS because of their affiliation with the Georgia College Advising Corps, which sponsors the college adviser position at CCHS.
“There’re so many barriers to entry for college, through knowing what test scores to get, knowing about financial aid, knowing how to apply to colleges and how they’re communicating with you,” Branch said. “Students have questions about those things, and we want to be able to eliminate any kind of barrier so that students aren’t limited by those kinds of things in their pursuit of higher education or other post-secondary options.”
“There’re so many barriers to entry for college. Students have questions about those things, and we want to be able to eliminate any kind of barrier so that students aren’t limited by those kinds of things in their pursuit of higher education or other post-secondary options.”
— Shellby Branch,
Interim College Adviser
Johnson believes that the college adviser position is beneficial to students due to the help they are able to provide.
“I was a first-generation college student myself, and so when I was applying to college I had no idea what I was doing. (Branch) was also a first-generation college student, she had that same experience, so I think we really understand just how stressful this process can be for students,” Johnson said. “It is really valuable to, first of all, have more than one person here that can help on more than one day. But also, given who we are and what we’ve been through as students and as people, it brings a lot of weight to what we can connect students to.”
Both Branch and Johnson are working to fulfill their new role and make sure that students’ needs are met.
“At this point in the year, I’m meeting with students who either request to meet with me or reaching (out to) students that have not met with a college adviser at all this year,” Johnson said. “(Going forward), I’ll be focusing on outreach to students, planning the decision day event and then also just being here as a resource for any students that want to talk with me.”
