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closely with the youngsters’ parents, teachers, and other adults in their lives, as well as with Next Step Director Miranda Hope, the mentors helped to guide, encourage, and assist each of these young people as they planned for their educations after high school.
Patty Metcalfe, a Flint Hill resident who was first paired with then-seventh-grader Rocio Loya in the fall of 2000, was one of Starfish’s first mentors. Metcalfe helped Rocio prepare for graduation by taking her to visit George Mason, Mary Washington, James Madison, the University of Virginia (UVA), Christopher Newport, and other schools to help her make her choice. “When I was helping our own daughters prepare for college, I had been to college myself, so I kind of knew what to expect," said Metcalfe. “Also, Miranda Hope was such an important support, so affirming and encouraging to Rocio," who will be the first in her family to attend college. Rocio’s mother Lorena came along on several of the college visits. “My daughter Becca was in her senior year at UVA when Rocio and I visited,” continued Metcalfe, “and I think that contributed to Rocio’s wanting to go there.” Rocio was accepted to several colleges including UVA. However, by spring of 2006, according to Metcalfe, “.. .it was getting to the point where Rocio had to make a decision, and she still hadn’t heard from UVA specifically about her scholarship. We’d send one set of papers down and they would write her back ten days later, asking for more papers. We’d send those down, and then they’d write back, again and again. We were right at the deadline, and something came up and she needed to get more papers down there, and I said, ‘You’re not going to school tomorrow, I’m canceling my plans, and we’re going to Charlottesville to get this done.’”
Rocio now attends UVA on a full four-year scholarship and is enrolled in a “College Transition” program that helps make sure first-generation students and others who may struggle with their first year at college are successful. Metcalfe, who helped Rocio move in to her dorm and accompanied her and her mother through the day-long orientation this fall, said, “How many parents who have never been to college would know how to get through the system?”
Another Starfish mentee who graduated
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