You know you've made a great hiring decision when you're excited to tell people about it. And we're really excited to tell you about five new additions who've joined our Irvine, CA office. So here they are, complete with our usual folksy bios.
Breanne Boyle
College counselor & essay specialist
Back in high school, Breanne worked at Baskin Robbins where she could scoop ice cream with both arms simultaneously, a feat that earned her much acclaim in her hometown of Upland, California. Upon graduation, she turned down lucrative full-time job offers from several nationally-ranked ice cream establishments who were eager to capitalize on her scooping stardom, choosing instead to enroll in college, more specifically, Miami University, not to be confused with the University of Miami, which is why the school officials refer to their institution as either “Miami University of Ohio” or “Not the University of Miami!” After winning a collegiate national championship in Mock Trial, Breanne graduated with degrees in English and creative writing, enrolled in UC San Diego’s college counseling certification program and went to work as a recruiter for Miami where she visited high schools, spoke with interested students and often said things like, “NO—we are NOT the University of Miami! What is WRONG with you people!?” Today, she is both an essay specialist and a full-time college counselor at Collegewise, a closeted World of Warcraft gamer, and not-so-closeted fan of the Real Housewives franchise (with strong opinions as to the relative merits of each cast and storyline). She also has a horse named “Sassy” who is, apparently, aptly named.
Neekta Khorsand
College essay specialist
Neekta taught herself to read when she was five, which is pretty impressive. She also loved biting into raw onions like they were apples, which is pretty unusual. When her second grade teacher asked her to help her fellow classmates with their reading, aforementioned fellow classmates would often say, “Thank you so much for helping me learn to read!,” “You’re very impressive!,” and “Your breath smells like onions!” After continuing her reading and (thankfully) discontinuing her raw onion eating, Neekta went on to double-major in English literature and American studies at San Francisco State University which, as she puts it, kept her “swimming in a sea of writing.” Not literally, of course, as to our knowledge there are no bodies of water filled with writing. But she did write. A lot. She’s also worked as a writing tutor in San Francisco State’s English Tutoring Center, and, more recently, as a volunteer with 826LA, a non-profit writing and tutoring center, where she offered personalized college essay assistance to high school students throughout Los Angeles. When she’s not reading, writing or helping students with college essays, Neekta enjoys eating Thai food, singing the occasional karaoke tune, and quoting virtually every line from the movie “Wayne’s World.”
Carolyn Sam Rojo
College essay specialist
When Carolyn was a junior in high school, she showed up to the PSAT with seven perfectly sharpened pencils. And her own pencil sharpener. That fanatical attention to academic detail has served her well. Today, Carolyn is a 2006 graduate of UC San Diego and a 2009 graduate of University of San Diego School of Law. In college she was Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and a host of other Latin acknowledgements which, loosely translated, all mean, “I’ve had straight A’s since birth.” She also played both flag-football and softball while in law school and is the only person we have ever met who writes rough drafts of thank-you notes. So if you’re her competitor in a classroom, in a courtroom, or on the field, well, good luck—you’re going to need it. And if you need help with your college essay (or if you’re just trying to come up with a nice thank-you note to Grandma), be assured that Carolyn can help you. Before joining Collegewise as a college essay specialist, Carolyn spent a year with the AmeriCorps VISTA program helping refugee families learn English and adjust to life in the U.S. She also still gets out on the ol’ softball field regularly and loves yoga where she resists the urge to bring seven perfectly-rolled mats to every class.
Rachael Ryan
Assistant college counselor
Rachael is rabbit phobic. Seriously—she finds rabbits extremely creepy. Not surprisingly, she is also not a fan of the Easter Bunny, magicians, or South Dakota State University (whose mascot is the Jackrabbit). Rachael was a career advisor at FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising) where she counseled students on resumé writing, interviewing, the importance of balancing your own style with what’s trendy, and how to look current and sophisticated simultaneously (there is a reason the white button-front shirt is so popular—it’s professional and easy to dress up or down!). She is a graduate of University of La Verne and has a master’s degree in college counseling and student development from Azusa Pacific University, schools whose mascots—the leopard and the cougar respectively—are, not coincidentally, natural rabbit predators.
Shelley Paget
Assistant college counselor
Shelley is a country music fanatic, so much so that she has been known to belt out a mean karaoke version of “Friends in Low Places” by Garth Brooks. She also believes that Target–not Disneyland–is the happiest place on earth, especially when country music is playing over the store sound system. Sure, Disneyland may occasionally play country music, but can you buy a reasonably-priced natural wood Adirondack outdoor patio collection there like you can at Target? Nope. Didn’t think so. Shelley graduated from Cal State Fullerton, earned her master’s degree in educational counseling at Azusa Pacific University, and recently completed a college counseling internship at Brea Olinda High School. When she’s not college counseling, listening to country music or shopping at Target, you can probably find Shelley at Angel Stadium. Really, there’s a very good chance of that; she loves going to Angels baseball games so much that she moved right across the street. Beat that, A’s and Red Sox fans!