-: My name is Christina Pantoja-Williams.
I work here at Millersville University
as assistant director of student success and retention.
So, our office serves pretty much special populations.
So, I work with a lot of freshman students,
typically first-generation students of color,
students who are coming the the university
that are coming from underrepresented
populations, underserved neighborhoods.
I work specifically with the local school district here,
the School District of Lancaster.
We have a partnership with them.
And so, I work with their students,
helping them transition into Millersville,
also creating a college-going culture at the high school.
I always tell individuals it's a dual position
because I'm pretty much the community liaison in our office,
so I work with Lancaster County,
so their community and their community agencies
that are serving inner-city Lancaster,
as well as, specifically, I'm responsible
for the Lancaster Partnership Program,
which is a program that I came into
when I was a high school student,
which works with our local inner-city
high school, JP McCaskey High School.
I am placed in the building, I work with their
students from 9th through 12th grade
creating that college-going culture, helping them understand
why is it important to remain in high school,
why is it important to get good grades,
and then, once they become seniors,
helping them with that college admissions process
and applying and getting to colleges.
Then, on the other side, I'm working with,
also, college students, so helping our freshman students
transition in, working with our summer program,
the Pre-scholar Summer Institute,
and working with those students to get them
to understand the value of an education
and why it's so important to leave some of the behaviors
that they're used to doing at their high school,
how it's not gonna transition
into a college setting as well,
and so, helping them understand
the importance of time management, et cetera.
And also, the big piece is working with the parents
and helping them understand what are the things
they need to do in order to get their kids
into Millersville and keep them here, while they're here.