By Stephanie Roat/Reporter
Since Maria Tapia became the LIFE program’s success coach she has helped local high school students in the Latino community, find success transitioning to college.
Tapia’s journey with NWACC started in 2018. At the time, she was an administrative specialist for the disability resource center. During her time as an administrative specialist Tapia “got to learn more about the LIFE program and what their purpose was.” In September 2023, she saw a job listing for a new success coach and jumped at the opportunity. Tapia expressed excitement about being a part of this program, stating,” I definitely wanted to be a part of LIFE because I’m able to not only work with it with students from high school transitioning to college, but also their parents…. [Y]ou know, answer those questions.”
Now, Tapia’s job is just that! With the LIFE program, she reaches out to high schools throughout the area such as Rogers Highschool, Bentonville High, Springdale, Heritage, and others. Outreach takes the form of school visits during the springtime, during which, Tapia works with highschoolers to let them know what NWACC has to offer. This outreach continues during the summer. LIFE hosts a summer program for those in 9th through 12th grade.
“It’s almost like a day-camp,” Tapia explained, where students get a tour of the campus, play games, and have lunch. Finally, in the Fall, Tapia works with her supervisor and Director of Hispanic and Latino Outreach, Juanita Franklin to put on the LIFEQuiz event. This event was explained by Franklin to be, “[A] one-day academic competition where area juniors and seniors represent their high schools to compete in various subjects such as geography, math, science, trivia, etc.” Franklin stated that while she works with a team on this event, “Maria played a big role in organizing the competition portion.” LIFE outreach throughout the year allows Tapia to prep incoming students for what is to come.
However, the job is not finished after students graduate high school. After they enter NWACC, they stay with the LIFE program as LIFE students. Through the program, Tapia helps students find educational resources such as the math and writing centers on campus, as well as community resources when needed, such as SNAP benefits or Medicaid. Tapia also contacts LIFE students weekly, to monitor their success, and see what resources they may need. Tapia expressed that this is an important part of her job as a success coach. She stated, “[M]y title kind of says that right? [M]y job is to make the students successful.”
Tapia and the LIFE program do not just help students, but parents as well. The main program at LIFE that specialized in parental outreach is called Padres. Franklin expressed that Tapia is a “huge part” of this special program. Padres works with parents of Latino, first-generation students and helps them navigate the path to college. This includes holding seminars in Spanish, helping with the admissions process, and getting documents together such as the FAFSA and DACA. Helping parents is a special part of the job for Tapia. She stated,” I would say… the thing that’s creating the most memories and… what feels really, really good is giving the information to those parents who might not understand what college is like…. Just finding out that college is possible for their students… [I]t always brings a huge smile to their face and it… it makes me feel good because I feel like I’ve helped them out.”
Tapia’s start as the new LIFE success coach seems to be, well, a success. Through her work in the LIFE program, she helps students and parents reach their dreams of higher education. What started as just a passing interest for Tapia while she worked at NWACC, has turned into a new way of life for her.
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