Adrienne Carlos wishes someone had helped her navigate the dos and don’ts of financial aid when she became the first person in her family to invest in a college degree.

But rather than fret about how much money she could have saved attending Arizona State University, Adrienne is focused today on helping Yavapai College students look beyond loans and access a variety of available sources of education funding like scholarships, grants and work study.

“When I went to college, I didn’t really understand financial aid so I took out loans. I had to pay all of that back,” explained the YC financial aid advisor and student employment coordinator.  “I look at my own history and use myself as an example. That helps me help other people. I let people know what it really means to have a student loan and how paying for it over the next 10 or 20 years really holds you back financially on other things like a house or a car. I really try to deter people from student loans.”

Adrienne likens financial aid to a “puzzle” that challenges her to “figure out how each piece of available financial aid can work for each student.” She tackles each puzzle behind the scenes and currently, because of the COVID-19 pandemic,  she solves financial aid puzzles remotely from home. She doesn’t mind the anonymity of the work. “I don’t need students to see what I’m doing to make them successful,” she said.

Equally rewarding as solving financial aid puzzles, she said, is seeing students obtain valuable experience in work study jobs on all six YC campuses and centers in Yavapai County. “I try to get as many student workers employed as possible so they can have that great experience that helps shape them and their futures.”

Some student employees progress to working full time for the college. “They’re the unsung heroes. I see them doing so many amazing things,” Adrienne said.

Like many of the students she has watched progress through YC’s employment ranks, Adrienne has excelled and earned multiple promotions since landing at the college as a 23-year-old ASU graduate looking for change and for some distance from her Phoenix-area upbringing.

She first tested the waters of academic advising, served as administrative assistant to the dean of student affairs and was the college’s residence hall director before moving into financial aid, where she has served the last seven of her 15-year YC tenure.

Adrienne’s YC career journey coincided with earning a master’s degree at Northern Arizona University, organizing campus activities on a volunteer basis, marriage and motherhood. She currently is lending her skills to some special projects for the Human Resources department. “There’s been a lot of cool projects over the years that I have been able to get in on and work on,” she said, noting that throughout her YC tenure her superiors and co-workers have encouraged her to climb the proverbial ladder.

Based on her own experience, Adrienne recommends anyone considering college start researching financial aid options right away.  She also recommends starting a higher-education journey or career path at a community college.

In hindsight, she said, “I would have started at a community college and taken care of my first couple of years before transferring.”

One final recommendation. If you find a nurturing, supportive worklplace, don’t leave. Adrienne has no plans to do that. “I feel like I am part of a great team. Yavapai College is a great place to be.”