{"id":13893,"date":"2026-02-06T06:00:56","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T06:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/collegetrack.wpenginepowered.com\/?post_type=press&p=13893"},"modified":"2026-07-23T18:22:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T18:22:12","slug":"stephanie-college-track-epa-alumna-shares-her-ecgs-experience","status":"publish","type":"scholar_story","link":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/es\/scholar-stories\/stephanie-college-track-epa-alumna-shares-her-ecgs-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephanie, College Track EPA Alumna shares her ECGS experience"},"template":"","community_tax":[151],"partner":[],"program":[],"class_list":["post-13893","scholar_story","type-scholar_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","community_tax-east-palo-alto-ca"],"acf":{"details":{"featured_image":13894,"authors":"","abstract":"","helper_taxonomies":{"article_type":false,"community_tax":[151],"partner":false,"program":false,"role":false,"region":false}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"EAST PALO ALTO, CA (February 11, 2026) <\/b>Emerson Collective Graduate School grants are now officially open, supporting college graduates who enroll in graduate schools and choose to pursue fields in Law, STEM, Health, and Education. <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nFor College Track alumni like Stephanie Soria Mendoza, graduate school wasn\u2019t just the next step; it symbolized an intentional shift in the right direction. A proud College Track alumna and former <\/span>College Track EPA<\/span><\/a> scholar, Stephanie received a full-ride to UC Berkeley, graduating in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Welfare. A few years later, Stephanie graduated from San Jos<\/span>\u00e9<\/span> State University with a Master's degree in Education and a concentration in Counseling, holding a PPS and Child Welfare & Attendance (CWA) Credential. Today, she is a school counselor at Saint Francis High School, where she supports students in their educational and life pursuits.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nStephanie began her college experience studying political science with aspirations of becoming a lawyer. After discovering Berkeley\u2019s social welfare major, she shifted gears.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cI'm the third oldest of eight, so I'm always sharing resources or trying to pass along information to my younger siblings or to my relatives, to friends who weren't part of College Track. I saw social welfare as a similar thing that I can do as a career,\u201d she reflected, and \u201cI appreciated social welfare because I could work with different types of populations in a variety of industries.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe decision to switch to social welfare became more evident after interning with the San Francisco District Attorney\u2019s Office during her sophomore year. There, she vividly remembered visiting the San Quentin Prison with a lawyer to do preventative work: asking inmates about their stories to determine how the DA could support them.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cWhen I was listening to their stories,\u201d Stephanie said, \u201c a lot of the inmates committed crimes at a very young age, starting in high school. And a lot of them mentioned that they eventually became part of a gang \u2026 the gang felt like their family, their community, and role model figures for them, which they didn't have at the school systems.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nThrough social welfare and education, Stephanie developed a passion for involvement in others' lives early on, supporting their journeys. This discovery was born out of the reflection she had on the conversations with the San Quentin Prison inmates: \u201cThey didn't have a counselor who was supporting them and pushing them to go to college and get good grades.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\nAfter graduation, she worked as a College Completion Coordinator at the place where she believes the seed for college was planted: College Track. From there, Stephanie worked in school districts, serving in capacities like Parent Liaison, College Advisor, and College and Career Advisor. Over time, she gravitated towards the high school level, and equally speaking, the students also gravitated to her.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nAs she advanced in her career, her peers\/mentors joined in agreement with her inner voice, encouraging her to pursue graduate school, citing, \u201cWell, if you want to become a school counselor, you need to have your credentials.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nStephanie\u2019s decision to pursue a Bachelor's degree versus a Master\u2019s degree stemmed from different motivations. She remarked, \u201cI always tell my family that my undergraduate degree was in honor of them, and completing my bachelor\u2019s was to honor my grandma\u2019s sacrifices from coming from Mexico to the United States.\u201d Thinking deeply, she added, \u201cMy Master\u2019s, I did it for me. That\u2019s my choice that I continue to pursue.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nNow, as a school counselor at St. Francis High School, Stephanie works with a caseload of sophomores, juniors, and seniors. She enjoys the ability to \u201cbuild a relationship with them [students] sophomore year, get to know them personally, academically, advise them on what they should be doing within their summers or extracurricular activities.\u201d She has the opportunity to be a part of students\u2019 lives early, marking a full circle on the reflection she had when she was a sophomore in college while visiting the San Quentin Prison.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cI love building those relationships early,\u201d she shared. \u201cThat way, by the time senior year comes, they trust me, and I can support them.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nFor scholars and alumni alike, the desire for graduate degrees is born out of a choice, a declaration, and a belief: the choice to discover your calling(s), the declaration to name it, and the belief that you are equipped to do it. As you embark on this journey of discovery, the ECGS grants can support your steps to reach your full potential.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nApply for the ECGS grants here: <\/span>\u00a0https:\/\/app.smarterselect.com\/programs\/102893<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nFor more information, please visit the ECGS grants page,\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>https:\/\/sites.google.com\/collegetrack.org\/ecgs2026\/home<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/a>","":null,"drop_cap":false,"helper_width":"narrow"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_related_stories","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_related_stories":{"manually_curate":false,"posts":""}}]},"yoast_head":"\nStephanie, College Track EPA Alumna shares her ECGS experience - College Track<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/es\/scholar-stories\/stephanie-college-track-epa-alumna-shares-her-ecgs-experience\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stephanie, College Track EPA Alumna shares her ECGS experience - College Track\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"EAST PALO ALTO, CA (February 11, 2026) Emerson Collective Graduate School grants are now officially open, supporting college graduates who enroll in graduate schools and choose to pursue fields in Law, STEM, Health, and Education. \u00a0 For College Track alumni like Stephanie Soria Mendoza, graduate school wasn\u2019t just the next step; 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