After nine years of guiding students through the college application process, Director of the College & Career Center Sandra Brod will be retiring from her position tentatively after winter break.

From working at the elementary and middle school levels to teaching at Cal State Hayward and San Francisco State, Brod has led a 35-year career in education.

“I was teaching in the classroom and I got very interested in higher education and I was ready for a change,” Brod said. “I did an internship here 10 years ago, then ended up applying for the job when it opened.”

Since her time here, Brod has seen massive changes in terms of college selection.

“When I first started here, I saw this push from the parents and students for a very narrow range of colleges. If you didn’t go to the big top 10 or the big UC’s, you were kind of like a failure,” Brod said. “Now, it’s a much more open and flexible community. The culture is less conservative in terms of choices and the kids are willing to do a little more exploration.”

Senior Erin Peterson said she meets with Brod about every two weeks to talk about essays, where she’s applying, and what she wants to do in the future.

“She’s been essential in the college application process because there’s a lot of things I personally wouldn’t know, so it’s been really nice to have an outside source,” Peterson said.

Parent volunteer Lisa Kieraldo has worked alongside Brod for the past eight years, helping to coordinate and train volunteers to staff the center, as well as to assist her with the Center’s bulletins and events like Case Studies Night and Career Day.

“[Brod is] really enthusiastic about working with students and has a lot of background knowledge that’s really helpful,” Kieraldo said. “She has relationships with a lot of college representatives and over the years she has been here, the number of college visits has grown and grown.”

Brod said the center could not run without the help of the parent volunteers like Kieraldo.

“They’re helpful, they’re considerate, and they get kids,” Brod said.

Brod said while she enjoys working with staff and touring colleges, she will miss meeting with students the most.

“There’s so much pressure on every young person,” Brod said. “I really like trying to encourage them to follow their heart and to be that person for kids who are afraid of gap years, or going to a state college, or going to two-years, and say, ‘Yeah, you can do it.’”

Although she is retiring from this job, she does not plan to retire from work altogether.

“I have three grandchildren and I have more traveling to do,” Brod said. “I was working this summer in Wahaca, teaching art and English in a village with Zapotec Indians, and I would really like to do more of this kind of work. And I can’t have a set schedule to do that.”

Brod would like to continue college counseling in the future, but on a smaller level.

“I probably will take some private kids because what I haven’t been able to do here which I would like to do, is really look at majors and really research colleges to make the match even better,” Brod said.

Brod plans to leave after winter break, but will stay as long as necessary for the school to find a qualified replacement.

Principal Brent Daniels posted the open position on edjoin.org in October and said they have received a number of viable candidates. A committee comprised of administrators, staff and parents conducted interviews in mid-November.

“We’re really looking for someone who recognizes that there has to be an individual plan for each student and will develop the college and career program for every grade level,” Daniels said.

Their goal is to find someone who will work with students, parents, teachers and counselors to ultimately help students make informed decisions on their pathways after high school.

“[Brod’s departure] is a loss for us,” Daniels said, “but we’ll use this as an opportunity to build on the work she has done to strengthen our program.”

Brod hopes the new hire will work in closer conjunction with teachers to help connect the dots for students about how their classes relate to different careers and majors, as well as just daily life usage. Aside from doing more research, her final advice for students is to follow their passions.

For the school as a whole, she hopes some of the high competitiveness and pressure will change into more collaboration and support.

“The reality is everybody’s studying at this school, everybody’s working hard,” Brod said. “Figuring out what’s best for you and doing a really good job at what you’re really good at – that’s what’s important.”