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Starting Your Journey (Orientation)

Together, we make the journey better! The College-to-Career journey, though distinct and often challenging, becomes not only manageable but enjoyable when we walk it with a Circle of Champions by our side. When we come together as a team, we harness the collective strength, creativity, and resilience that each member brings. Together, we can overcome obstacles, achieve our goals, and savor the triumphs along the way.

 

To start you Circle of Champions journey as a student, we recommend you work through the following.

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Guidelines for Success

To build a personal Circle of Champions in support of your academic journey, you will need to be consistently engaged with the following activities. 

1.

Receive and Respond to Circle of Champions Communications As a student, you will receive communications (email, text, DM, etc.) from your coach, Champions, and other personnel involved in the program. It is important that you respond to all communications, even if the responses are brief. If you have questions about the program, you can explore the program website at www.myCircleofChampions.com. In particular, visit the Help pages at the site to find information and people who can assist you.

2.

Join the Circle of Champions Network The two most common ways to join the Circle of Champions Network include: 1) Register as a as student at myCircleofChampions.com; or 2) If you are enrolled in a class that offers the Circle of Champions assignment, follow the assignment directions. The Circle of Champions Network places emphasis on your privacy, information security, and network reliability. These are the primary reasons we require a log-in to your private pages.

3.

Develop and Maintain "My Profile" Your College-to-Career Journey is a personal experience. The best way to keep your Champions up to date on you journey is through the "My Profile" tool. This is a critical part of keeping your Circle informed about your journey so they can provide you with meaningful support. You will start building your profile during the registration process and we will send you regular reminders to make updates as you move through your journey. We have designed the process to be very simple. It is important for you to keep your profile current.

4.

Build Your Circle and Engage with Your Champions To surround yourself with support on your College-to-Career Journey, you will need to intentionally build a Circle of Champions. This starts by nominating the natural cheerleaders and encouragers who are already in your life. We will help you think through who you should nominate and have a simple process you can use to send nominations. We recommend a minimum of four Champions in your Circle. Your Champions do NOT need to be familiar with college processes. We will help them learn about the College-to-Career Journey you are on. Your Champions can be located any where in the world and do not have to speak English as their primary language. Once you have a Circle starting to take shape, we will help you communicate with them and keep them up to date on you journey progress so they can provide you with meaningful support. It is important that you regularly communicate with your Champions about the successes and challenges you face on your journey.

5.

Participate in Circle of Champions Research Ongoing development of the Circle of Champions Network is critical for establishing equity across higher education. With this in mind, we are partnering with UCLA and University of Pennsylvania to conduct an ongoing assessment of the Network, how it impacts student success and what needs to be developed to optimize the impact on marginalized students. As part of the research process, you may be asked to answer survey questions, participate in interviews, or similar activities. Also, the research includes assessment of communications and activity across the Circle of Champions Network. Your participation in this effort will help improve your experience and the experience of future students.

6.

Learn about the College-to-Career Process/Journey There are several milestones you must successfully achieve to complete the college-to-career journey. The Circle of Champions Network will help you learn about each milestone with learning assets and coaching support tailored to first-generation college students. Learning and coaching support include: 1) selecting a major and working through career options related to your major; 2) selecting and applying to colleges/universities during the transfer process; 3) developing and applying for financial aid or scholarships to pay for college; and 4) finding your first career job.

Circle of Champions Overview

Student Testimonial

Gavilan College and the Circle of Champions

Sign-up

Ready to jump in? Ready to intentionally build a personal Circle of Champions to support your journey? Go to the Join page now!

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