Three years after graduating from Keene State, James Rinker has returned to the college, this time as a staff member.
This week marked the start of Rinker’s career as an educational counselor for the KSC Upward Bound Program. According to the college’s website, the program “prepares students for success in high school and enrollment in college.”
Formerly the business and education reporter for the Keene Sentinel, Rinker will now work with students in Vermont who come from low-income backgrounds or who will be first-generation college students.
“[My role is] helping these students who commonly don’t have the same access to college prep and readiness and give them the same tools to succeed,” Rinker said.
As a former Upward Bound student himself, Rinker said he can relate to the high school students in the program and is looking forward to being their support system.
“This is a very full circle moment, it does feel like coming home,” Rinker said. “These programs helped set me up to succeed [as a journalist] and in that career path right out of college … so now to come back and to serve students in Vermont, just right across the border, will be a fun and exciting challenge.”
Rinker said switching career paths at this time will allow him to be involved with education in a new way.
“Supporting your local news organizations is so important, and that’s something I really want to emphasize,” Rinker said. “Over the course of my year in the education and business reporter role, I started going to our schools more often, working with students firsthand and sharing their stories. I thought that was really important to revisit in a deeper way.”
Assistant Director for Upward Bound Emily Bolick said alumni such as Rinker are what make the program strong, and his career experience makes him well-suited for the role.
“I think one of the really great things about [Rinker’s] path is to highlight that sometimes careers and interests change even after you’ve started them, and I think that’s such an important thing, ” Bolick said. “I think it’s really important for our community [of students] as they’re navigating all of the different options that they could have … is another person who’s been through it, had the experience and can share about what that looks like going forward.”
Rinker said his goal while being an educational counselor is to ensure students feel confident they can further their education after high school and to overcome any educational obstacles.
“My goal is to recruit more students from Vermont; these are really rural, small schools, but I think a lot of students were in this era of students who were worried to take advantage of [Upward Bound] and accept help,” Rinker said.
He added, “A lot of students who don’t have access to technology really felt inequity during the pandemic onset, and here we are now, five years later from that, trying to connect with those students.”
Even though Rinker will primarily be working with students off campus, he will still provide himself as a resource to Keene State students.
“I’m always happy to chat with students if they’re curious about journalism or if they’re curious about something,” Rinker mentioned. “We’re here to serve these students but I want to be available as much as I can to also be a resource on campus in general for just any student.”
Nicole Dumont can be contacted at
ndumont@kscequinox.com
