Zoie Sickey is a first-generation college graduate and a second-year Virginia College Advising Corps adviser at Salem High School. She studied biomedical engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University and plans to pursue a career in higher education after she completes her service with VCAC. Zoie reflects, “I was fortunate to have a wonderful academic adviser during my time as an undergraduate student, and when I was in the process of job searching, he inspired me to consider advising as a possible career. Because of his suggestion, I came across the posting to become a college adviser with VCAC and have loved advising ever since.” This past summer, Zoie also served as one of VCAC’s “Pre-Service Training Facilitators” and helped plan and lead VCAC’s annual pre-service training for incoming college advisers.

In her work with students, Zoie’s efforts to increase FAFSA completion at Salem High School last year resulted in 80% of her students submitting the application, the highest of any high school participating in Virginia’s Super FAFSA Project. One of Zoie’s students says, “I’m so very thankful for Ms. Sickey because she made applying to college more conceivable. She broke things down for me to make the college application less overwhelming and took the time to check in on me throughout the year. She helped me gain the confidence I needed to finish my applications.”

“The one-on-one interactions between myself and my students have had the greatest impact on me throughout my time in VCAC,” says Zoie. “I always knew I wanted to enter a career that allowed me to help others directly, and getting to assist them and see them pursue their own goals has been nothing short of incredible. It is definitely the biggest motivation behind my plans to pursue my master’s degree in higher education so I can continue this work at the college level.”