Brianna Diaz \u201923 is driven by a desire to give voice to the voiceless. That drive is what connects her journey from passionate pre-vet major to the College Advising Corps, a branch of AmeriCorps that matches recent college graduates with schools in rural, low-income, underrepresented areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During a Caldwell Fellows seminar on servant leadership, Diaz served as a medical interpreter with Open Door Clinic, a nonprofit that offers health care for the uninsured. \u201cI always assumed, \u2018You love animals, so be a veterinarian,\u2019\u201d Diaz says. \u201cBut that time at the clinic made me realize that I really enjoy helping people receive equitable access to things that improve their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s what she does now for the 280 seniors at Franklinton High School. There, Diaz creates a welcoming, multilingual space for students to figure out what\u2019s next, whether that\u2019s the workforce, the military or college. For many in the close-knit, rural community in Franklin County, N.C., college seems like a far-off dream. \u201cThey might not have parent support, or internet access at home, or maybe there\u2019s a language barrier,\u201d says Diaz. \u201cAnd that\u2019s on top of college being expensive in the first place.\u201d Diaz helps first-generation college students navigate these challenges and think through possibilities. \u201cI help them think bigger and wider about their futures,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of that support is emotional, she says, but much of it is logistical, since college applications in the U.S. are complex. She walks students through career assessments, applications, financial aid and scholarships. She coaches them through phone calls to admissions offices, empowers them to advocate for their own future, and cheers them on, whether or not college is the next step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next year, Diaz plans on applying to study for a master\u2019s of science education. She hopes to eventually work as a science museum educator, bringing together her love of animals and passion for servant leadership. She uses her personal experiences when she talks to students. \u201cI also remind them of my own story,\u201d says Diaz. \u201cI thought one thing going into college and ended up somewhere else. It\u2019s OK to change.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":"\n\n\n\n\n
Brianna Diaz \u201923 is driven by a desire to give voice to the voiceless. That drive is what connects her journey from passionate pre-vet major to the College Advising Corps, a branch of AmeriCorps that matches recent college graduates with schools in rural, low-income, underrepresented areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During a Caldwell Fellows seminar on servant leadership, Diaz served as a medical interpreter with Open Door Clinic, a nonprofit that offers health care for the uninsured. \u201cI always assumed, \u2018You love animals, so be a veterinarian,\u2019\u201d Diaz says. \u201cBut that time at the clinic made me realize that I really enjoy helping people receive equitable access to things that improve their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s what she does now for the 280 seniors at Franklinton High School. There, Diaz creates a welcoming, multilingual space for students to figure out what\u2019s next, whether that\u2019s the workforce, the military or college. For many in the close-knit, rural community in Franklin County, N.C., college seems like a far-off dream. \u201cThey might not have parent support, or internet access at home, or maybe there\u2019s a language barrier,\u201d says Diaz. \u201cAnd that\u2019s on top of college being expensive in the first place.\u201d Diaz helps first-generation college students navigate these challenges and think through possibilities. \u201cI help them think bigger and wider about their futures,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of that support is emotional, she says, but much of it is logistical, since college applications in the U.S. are complex. She walks students through career assessments, applications, financial aid and scholarships. She coaches them through phone calls to admissions offices, empowers them to advocate for their own future, and cheers them on, whether or not college is the next step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next year, Diaz plans on applying to study for a master\u2019s of science education. She hopes to eventually work as a science museum educator, bringing together her love of animals and passion for servant leadership. She uses her personal experiences when she talks to students. \u201cI also remind them of my own story,\u201d says Diaz. \u201cI thought one thing going into college and ended up somewhere else. It\u2019s OK to change.\u201d <\/p>\n"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Caldwell Fellow Brianna Diaz \u201923 helps high school seniors envision a bright future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"views\/single-immersive.blade.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"","ncst_custom_author":"Susanna Klingenberg","ncst_show_custom_author":true,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"ncst\/default-immersive-post-header","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"{\"backgroundColor\":\"gray_800\",\"displayCategoryID\":9,\"showAuthor\":true,\"showDate\":true,\"showFeaturedVideo\":false,\"subtitle\":\"Caldwell Fellow Brianna Diaz \u201923 helps high school seniors envision a bright future.\"}","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,9],"tags":[1484,1681,174,188,1651,1427],"_ncst_magazine_issue":[],"class_list":["post-6189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newswire","category-stories","tag-americorps","tag-autumn-2024-profile","tag-brianna-diaz","tag-caldwell-fellows","tag-first-generation-students","tag-susanna-klingenberg"],"displayCategory":{"term_id":9,"name":"Stories","slug":"stories","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":9,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":249,"filter":"raw"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6189"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6189"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6396,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6189\/revisions\/6396"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6189"},{"taxonomy":"_ncst_magazine_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_ncst_magazine_issue?post=6189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}