Jocelinne Perfecto

Coordinator of Latino Outreach at Cape Fear Community College

Jocelinne has always been interested in the education system. As a first generation student, with undocumented parents to this day, the process to going through higher education became a barrier that stood the test of time through the cultural lens her parents provided her with as much support as they could in sayings like “echale ganas” and “este es tu futuro, no el mio”. Born and raised in Texas, the journey to moving to North Carolina was a grand one for someone who has never once left home because family is important. Jocelinne was a Grad student who successfully received her M.S. in Educational Psychology with an emphasis in Learning and Development. This milestone and new environment generated a culture shock in how Texas and North Carolina differed, but also allowed her to realize how much the collective collaboration of stakeholders can make an impact. In her current role as a Coordinator of Latino Outreach, there’s a focus on how to best support students who self identify as Hispanic at the college and helping them navigate the enrollment process, but also promoting educational equity for underrepresented students on campus through their journey at the college. As she has realized, this work is successful through collaboration and advocacy and many organizations and institutions in the state are working on these same missions. Finding about this fellowship as she researched how to best support her student caseload, this opportunity was the next step on how to best grow personally and professionally and she is very glad at the acceptance and work that still needs to be done and is very excited for this next step.