Just One Day to Make a Difference

Michele Bird, a college counselor at the private Harvard-Westlake School, took a seat Saturday at a table of six high school seniors, all of whom wanted to go to college, all of whom sought her advice.

She had volunteered as a one-day mentor for Los Angeles public school students who needed help navigating the complexities of college admissions. “Well,” she began, “Have you all identified a list of the colleges you want to attend?”

Not yet, five answered. Kind of, said one senior from Crenshaw High School.

“I don’t have the money for college,” said a young woman from Banning High. “I mean, I’m just looking for anything at this point.”

The financial aid workshop is up next, Bird said. Don’t worry about money; just apply to a college of your choice.

Next question from Bird: “Have you all taken your SAT tests?”

No. We missed it. Next month.

This was not good.

Bird was flustered and began the college-counselor equivalent of crisis management, rattling off instructions on how to register for the college entrance exam at the last minute. Dates, deadlines, websites. She talked; students wrote.

The veteran counselor would say later that she wasn’t sure what to expect when she agreed to participate in Go For College Day. The event at Occidental College was designed to bring college admissions counselors from some of the city’s most exclusive schools together with a few hundred public high school students, who sometimes struggle for one-on-one access to counselors at their crowded campuses.

The event, sponsored by the nonprofit Los Angeles Mentoring Partnership, or LAMP, drew students from high schools and community organizations, including the East L.A. Boys & Girls Clubs and Para Los Ninos.

After her initial assessment, Bird realized she had ventured into an educational arena that she had little experience with -- helping students from schools where the counselor-student ratio can be hundreds, even thousands, to one. At Harvard-Westlake, 10 deans manage 90 students each, including 30 seniors.

“I felt panicked,” Bird said. “I thought, ‘Oh my God, where do I start?’ ”

And after one session with her students-for-the-day, she almost laughed at what had been her biggest stressor of the week -- advising a group of Harvard-Westlake seniors on whether they should audition for the Stanford University performing arts program or take their second SAT test, both scheduled for Saturday.

“Our kids come from so much privilege,” she said. “It’s just two very different worlds.”

The event served up inspiration, encouragement and nuts-and-bolts advice.

Peter Chernin, News Corp.’s president and chief operating officer, told the students to “find out what you love in your life, and think how you can go to college to pursue that.”

Megan Chernin, his wife, said she came up with the idea for the event as part of her work with LAMP after she experienced the challenges of guiding her own three children through the college admission process. “And we had a lot of help from Harvard-Westlake,” where her children attended high school.

Some students, including Felicia Herrera of Banning High, said the event offered a rare opportunity to become immersed in the admission process.

Although many said counselors at their own schools have open-door policies and an abundance of reference materials, getting enough individual attention is often difficult.

“They announce important dates over the PA system for tests and stuff, but it’s a lot to keep track of,” said Herrera, 17, part of a contingent of Banning High students enrolled in the school’s month-old Academy for Hospitality and Culinary Arts. Herrera said her teacher, Virginia Marsoobian, encouraged her to pursue a college education and career in hotel management.

“Basically, Ms. Marsoobian changed my life for the better,” Herrera said. “She’s Hispanic. We have similar backgrounds, and she knows where I come from. She helped me be a leader, get organized, take pride.”

And there sat Marsoobian at the table next to Bird. She was taking notes just like the students, knowing that her two master’s degrees, which qualify her to run Banning’s new academy, didn’t prepare her for what has been an unexpected role -- unofficial college advisor.

“There are 3,400 kids in our school and one counselor,” Marsoobian said. “An opportunity for them to attend a day like this is a big first step.... I want our kids to have as big of the piece of pie as kids everywhere.”

Yet, Marsoobian, too, almost laughed when Bird began talking about the range of higher education options, from Ivy League to community colleges. “I wanted to raise my hand and say, ‘Back up, you need to tell them what Ivy League means.’ ”

After lunch, Bird decided she needed to delve deeper into the students’ high school education, if she were to really help them in the next 45 minutes, all the time left to make a difference. She talked about the basic course requirements they would need to attend a four-year institution.

Did they all have one year of American history? One girl said no. How are their grade-point averages? A collective moan, along with expressions of hope.

“I’ve really improved my grades this year,” said Jaynae Anderson, 18, of Crenshaw High.

“I’m on the seventh chapter of my novel,” said Otis Lewis, 17, also of Crenshaw. “I know my English teachers would write me a good recommendation.”

But the session was ending. Bird was nervous, putting her face in her hands.

“We’re running out of time.... I hope I helped you ... but I’m worried ... there’s so much to tell you.”

She then rattled off her final set of instructions -- the direct phone line to her office, her e-mail, her address.

“Call me,” she said.

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Times staff writer Erika Hayasaki contributed to this report.