As the President of CollegeRight, my job is to help my students and their parents navigate the college admission and application process. I work one-on-one with high school students to help them figure out what colleges and universities match them best and then guide them through the process of applying to those schools. It's never my job to do the work for the students. I teach and empower them to become savvy college shoppers and take control of their very own college application process.

EDUCATION | I have a Bachelor's degree in Theater Arts from the University of California, Irvine and a Master's degree in Education from the University of California, Los Angeles.

HOW TO GET STARTED | The best place to start is as an admissions officer at a college or as a high school counselor. You really learn the ropes and what goes on behind the closed door. There are also other ways to learn the process, like through a college counseling certification program that's usually offered by a handful of major universities throughout the country. Certification programs like these are great because they're open to anyone, regardless of profession.

MUST HAVE TRAITS | Compassion, an interest in helping others succeed, a genuine love of teenagers, a brain that loves data and organization.

how I got started | I always knew I wanted to work with teenagers. They are, after all, my favorite age group and admittedly, I watch some of the same television shows they watch and listen to a lot of the same music they listen to. In graduate school and after it, I discovered that working with large numbers of students wasn't for me. I found my way to this career path when I realized that being able to work one-on-one with a small number of students each year was where I could make the biggest impact and have the most fun each day.

why this job?| I have the kind of job that I can't wait to get to in the morning. I chose this career because, well, I don't think of it as a career. My colleagues and I work hard, especially during our busy season, July through December, where we can work as long as 14 hours a day. I knew this was "the one" for me when I realized that virtually every hour spent in my office with my students is genuinely fun. Taking a family through the college application process is an incredibly personal experience. As a result, I become a part of each of my students' lives. I even find myself with several invitations to Christmas Eve dinners each year.

why I love this job!| I love knowing that I played some small part in shaping the futures of each of my students, I love building lasting relationships with the families I work with, and I love the obscene amount of chocolate I get every holiday. I mean, pounds and pounds of it (which definitely helps us through those 14 hour days).

my typical day| A typical day allows for a few hours of calm in the morning to return calls and emails, and making sure I'm up to date on the latest college admission news so I can share it with my students. The rest of the day is spent meeting with students to discuss their most recent college tour, helping them finalize the list of colleges to which they're considering applying, or even getting them started on the early stages of the application process.

what they are | I don't believe that name-brand colleges like Harvard or Stanford are the only schools to which it's worth applying. Sometimes the best college educations take place at schools that don't show up along side colleges like Yale and Columbia in the rankings. Some of my favorite colleges and universities are schools you've probably never heard of. However, I occasionally come across parents who don't agree with me. They want to push their kids towards name-brand colleges because they believe those are the only colleges that are "worth it," regardless of what their child wants or where he can be accepted. My most successful and happiest students have realistic expectations about the kinds of colleges to which they can be accepted. My most successful and happiest parents share those same expectations.

all about growth | More and more families each year are seeking outside help from someone like me to help them demystify the college admission process.

my website| http://www.college-right.com