Clarke Central High School College and Career Advisor Cameron Garrett holds an SAT prep book in the Counseling Office on Sept. 15. Garrett has worked to make individualized plans with seniors who need assistance with applying for college and organizing future career path opportunities. “The personal aspect of having someone you can ask for help is really important to students because a lot of them don’t have people they can ask for help or knowledgeable people who will have the answers or be willing to go find the answers if they don’t know them,” Garrett said. Photo by Violet Dockery
The CCHS College and Career Advisor, Cameron Garrett, a Georgia College Advising Corps advisor, provides near peer services to seniors to help them plan their futures after high school.
Every two years, a new College and Career Advisor is employed at Clarke Central High School who conducts seniors’ check-in meetings, organizes college visits and makes individualized student plans for post-graduation.
Through the Georgia College Advising Corps with the University of Georgia, recent post-graduate advisers are placed in underserved high schools in Georgia to provide near-peer advising services, an advisor close to the students age. The current CCHS College and Career Adviser, Cameron Garrett, has started her first year in the position for the 2026-27 school year.
“(The GCAC) wants (advisers) to be close to graduation, so we are close to the age of students, because it’s been shown that students like to listen to people who are closer to their own age, and that helps us connect more with students,” Garrett said. “We’re also so close to having been in college that we’re still in that mindset.”
“Having someone that they can easily go to in school to get one-on-one support is really beneficial, so it’s less scary, and it’s not their responsibility to figure it out by themselves.”
— Cameron Garrett,
CCHS College and Career Adviser
As part of her duties, Garret supplies students with knowledge and experience of being in college that any student at CCHS can receive. CCHS senior Eudora Dawson has had three meetings with Garrett and has had individualized meetings to complete college applications.
“I’m really lucky that (I) have my parents help with (college applications) but things are different from when they were applying when they were younger, but since (Garrett’s) specifically a college adviser, she knows how to answer those questions,” Dawson said.
Garrett distributes ACT and SAT fee waivers and resources, meets with seniors to discuss after high school college and career paths and helps students apply for colleges and financial aid in order to provide support for students.
“I think it’s really important for every student to graduate with some plan. (It) can be really scary to graduate and have no idea what to do next,” Garrett said. “Having someone that they can easily go to in school to get one-on-one support is really beneficial, so it’s less scary, and it’s not their responsibility to figure it out by themselves.”
