TRIO program continues to give needed help to students

By Mark Muckenfuss

Sometimes, Kyrstie Lane feels she’s sitting on top of a well-kept secret.

“A lot of folks don’t know TRIO exists,” Lane said of the program that assists students who are either first-generation college students, from low-income backgrounds, disabled or a combination of these. 

TRIO Student Support Services, a Department of Education program, has been in existence since 1968. It has had a presence on the Cal State Monterey Bay campus since 2001. Lane joined CSUMB’s TRIO in 2013 and has been its director since 2016.

Students must apply to the program, which offers them academic advising, mentoring, tutoring and connections to many other programs as well as a social network. At least 280 students are helped annually, often more, and Lane said there is always a waiting list.

A big part of the program’s focus is helping students navigate the college landscape, especially those who have had no exposure to higher education. 

“Just having someone you feel comfortable asking questions of, it makes a huge difference,” Lane said.  

That’s been true for Anthony Luna, a third-year biology major from Stockton. He’s been part of TRIO since his freshman year. 

“My advisors and peer mentors are people I can consistently go to for help,” Luna said. “They’re always there for me.”

As a first-generation student, he said he was thrown off by some of the common things college students encounter. And he wasn’t alone. 

“For me and my roommates, we looked at a financial aid form and had no idea what they were talking about,” he said. 

Assistance with that hurdle and others helped keep him in school here. 

“I think I would have transferred out and gone somewhere closer to home if it hadn’t been for TRIO,” he said.  

Lane said TRIO students have higher retention and graduation rates than their peers. The most recent five-year average for the program shows a six-year graduation rate for first-time freshmen students of 76% for TRIO students compared to just over 60% for the campus as a whole. To give that a little more perspective, the most recent rate for all students in the CSU system is 62%.

Navid Amarlou said the TRIO program’s guidance has been crucial for keeping him on track. A third-year psychology major from Watsonville, Amarlou is the son of Iranian immigrants. His parents were unfamiliar with the higher education system in the United States, and Amarlou said that meant he largely had to navigate it on his own. 

“I met some students who were peer advisors for TRIO,” he said. “They suggested I join.”

At the time, Amarlou said, he was applying to do research through the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Center.

“I got a lot of help in preparing my application,” he said. 

Since then, he said, the organization has helped him find sources for research funding for the outside agencies he works with, such as the Ventana Wildlife Society, Outside the Box and the Furnace Teen Center. He has also learned about scholarship programs through TRIO.

And it’s given him friends. There is a program requirement for participants to meet with their peers on a regular basis. Amarlou said without that requirement, he might be inclined to just focus on his work.

“It's a good way to twist my arm and say, ‘Take a break from your work and go do something social,’” he said. 

As a result, he said, he’s formed what he expects will be lifelong friendships.

Lane said the social aspect of the program is an important element. Not only do participants meet on a regular basis to “hang out,” but there are organized events such as kayaking, horseback riding and craft making.

“I found my community away from home,” said TRIO student Haley Alcala. “Having that support system, that has been the biggest impact for me.”

Alcala, a senior majoring in human development and family science, is from Oakly. She needed some guidance mapping out her path to becoming a teacher when she transferred to CSUMB. TRIO advisors helped her determine her goals and checked in to make sure she was on track academically. Last semester, she earned straight A’s.

“I don’t think I’d be the successful student I am now without TRIO,” she said, adding that the biggest benefit she’s gotten from the program goes beyond grades. “I would say it’s finding who I am, finding my identity.”

Those kinds of revelations don’t stop once classes are over. Some TRIO students, such as Nelsy Montes-Romero, find the influence of the program continues. Montes-Romero graduated in May with a degree in collaborative health and human services,  but through the TRIO program she was able to land a job as an academic advisor for the GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) program at Salinas Valley High School. 

The job fits well with the skills she learned through TRIO and is a stepping stone, she said, to her eventual goal of going to graduate school and earning a doctorate degree, something she never imagined she would do when she came to CSUMB. The program helped connect her with the undergraduate research and the study-abroad programs. She spent a semester in Germany.

“TRIO helped me see my true potential as a student,” Montes-Romero said. “Without it, I wouldn’t be where I am. It opened a lot of opportunities for me.” 

Lane said it’s those successes that keep her and the program going. 

“Academic standing is important, but it’s not just about the numbers,” she said. “It’s those ‘Aha’ moments, where students get accepted to grad school or win awards. Those types of things are the real fruits of our program.”