Melissa Goyait of Weare helps local students access college and career opportunities through a program that supports them long after high school.

Goyait is the associate director at Educational Talent Search, a federal program housed at the University of New Hampshire which offers academic, career and college advising to help prepare New Hampshire students who are first-generation or might need financial support to attend college. Goyait does administrative programming and also works directly with students in Rundlett Middle School and Concord High School.

“This work is the center of my life, the core of me,” Goyait said. “This isn’t just, ‘oh, I show up to work every day.’ I can’t wait to do what I do.”

For Goyait, her job is a full-circle moment. Goyait was a first-generation student herself, who attended 4-year college for the first time at age 30. She went on to get a master’s degree and this year, at age 50, she graduated with a doctorate in higher education.

“It’s kind of a miracle that I made it as far as I have,” Goyait said. “I did not have that kind of support when I got out of high school. So for me, I am giving kids what I couldn’t have.”

The Educational Talent Search program serves about 1,200 students per year, at 29 middle and high schools around New Hampshire, including in nearby Franklin. Recruiting for the Educational Talent Search program begins as early as sixth grade, and students apply and are chosen for the program based on a needs assessment and references from guidance counselors.

For middle schoolers, the program is mainly focused on career and college awareness workshops and learning about post-secondary options through games and activities and going on some college visits. In high school, students get academic advising, training on study skills and being successful in high school. By junior year they’re doing college searches, making college lists, learning about financial aid, doing SAT prep, creating the Common App and by senior year they’re applying for schools, scholarships and financial aid.

The support continues even after the students go to college. Through her personal research, Goyait has found that it can be difficult for low-income and first generation students to be successful in college without support. If a student must work a job to afford tuition, there’s less time for studying, less time for receiving academic support and less time for participating in clubs and organizations that make students feel a sense of belonging on campus.

“The number one thing that made a low-income, first-gen student persist through college and graduate was seeking and utilizing the resources,” Goyait said. “That was like the number one thing that helped them overcome their obstacles. So that tells us we have to help them to do that with programs like these, bringing them to campuses, introducing them to some of those supports that they can receive on campus.”

Amaya Simmons, who graduated from Concord High School in 2021, nominated Goyait to be a Hometown Hero, saying Goyait helped her by emphasizing the importance of going to college and providing opportunities for scholarships and networking. Simmons is currently studying health care management at Granite State College.

“Without Melissa’s help I would not be where I am today, a successful college student with much to look forward to, a career, something to call my own as a result of hard work and perseverance,” Simmons wrote. “As a first-generation college student I am able to make not only myself proud, but also my entire family. This is all due to the trust and guidance Melissa has built and continues to hold with myself and my parents.”

Goyait said many of her students stay in touch long after leaving high school, and she enjoys hearing about their successes.

“It’s just those moments when you just see somebody make it and just knowing that you had something to do with that,” Goyait said. “That gratification, you can’t replace it.”

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