Counselor (Umoja)

Roshawn Walter serves Mission College students in the Counseling Center and Umoja Community. 

He is motivated by "having the opportunity to serve as the person that I wish I had access to prior to my college journey. Prior to my attending community college, I had no idea of the benefits and possibilities of attending college."

Although Roshawn has a graduate degree, he encountered the following At-Promise factors. According to Dr. Victor Rios, At-Promise students already possess the tools necessary to succeed in school, but just need support and assistance to utilize those tools.

• Low-income family household
• Single-parent household
• Formerly incarcerated siblings
• First generation college student
• Undecided student
• Placed in remedial English and math courses

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Education

• M.E.d., Educational Counseling, USC
• BA, Sociology, UCLA
• A.A., Sociology,m El Camino College

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Privilege Acknowledgement

Privilege is an unearned advantage that is highly valued but restricted to certain groups. Everyone has some form of privilege. Acknowledging your privilege does not mean you believe you are better than others. It is a way of demonstrating gratitude for an advantage you have and acknowledging that those without the advantage experience the world differently than you do.

According to Roshawn, "Despite the variety of challenges that I had to encounter along my educational journey, I am privileged to have had the opportunity to dedicate myself to college full-time for seven years with no major life events or conditions that led me to having to postpone my educational and professional goals. I understand that many underserved students have a desire to enroll in college full-time but encounter ongoing life conditions that does not permit them to do so."

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Fast Facts

As the first person in his family and amongst his peers to attend college, when Roshawn applied for the University of California Los Angeles, he had no idea that I was applying to “UCLA.” It was not until he received his acceptance letter that he realized he had applied to UCLA for transfer. 

This experience is a reminder to not take things for granted, as what makes sense to one student may seem like a miracle to another. It inspires Roshawn to keep educating students on opportunities.