By Amanda-Joy Lee
Behind the forest of fake plants and shelves of books in the library lies the College and Career Center. Running the center, Ms. Tidball’s goal is to help students find colleges that will suit them. Alongside her expertise in colleges, Tidball also helps students perfect and find college applications as well as scholarships and jobs.
“Ms. Tidball is great because she is extremely nice and will help you through anything,” Jaden Lewis, senior, said. “She helped me find my passion and what I want to study in college. She definitely made the difficulty of college easier.”
Tidball assists students in finding colleges that fit well with their needs. Students that visit her office can request to meet with colleges to which they would consider going. She will then connect them with an adviser from that school who will provide information about what the school has to offer. Tidball also helps students by “cleaning up” their essays and resumés, and preparing them for the ACT and SAT. Not only does Ms.Tidball help with college, but she can also aid students interested in the military and trade schools such as cosmetology.
“Ms. Tidball is the person who helped me get a solid plan for college,” Erin Ayers, senior, said. “With her help, I feel more confident of my decision for college and have an idea of what I want to do.”
Her expertise doesn’t stop at college though, she also helps students find volunteer opportunities and does career assessments. Additionally, she conducts mock interviews, checks portfolios, and helps students find resources that they will need to go into a career.
“She makes the application and resumé process so much easier,” Kaitlyn Hamin, senior, said. “I feel like I can ask her anything.”
This is her second year as College and Career Center Adviser, and one of her greatest successes from last year was contacting schools and guiding students to financially better options and receiving $26 million in scholarships. After contacting available jobs, she helped a student in need receive two job offers in the span of a week.
“She helped my sister get $20,000 in scholarships, and now she is helping me narrow down my options and search for scholarships,” Payton Burkes, senior, said.
Her office hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Students can text 81010 with the code “@1001CHS” to get reminders about college advisers that are coming to Coronado, upcoming deadlines, and more information about scholarships. Her completed schedule for colleges that are visiting is posted on the Coronado Counseling website.
“My goal is for students to leave high school feeling confident in their decisions,” Tidball said. “It doesn’t matter if a student is going to college, military, trade schools, or work, I’m always here.”
