This August, College Possible Philadelphia welcomed Armelle Dushime to the leadership team as our College Program Coordinator.
Prior to joining to College Possible, Armelle attended Abilene Christian University where she studied international studies, social science and biology and discovered her passion for education and social justice. After completing her undergraduate degree, Armelle moved to Rwanda for six months and volunteered as a program counselor with a college access nonprofit called Bridge2Rwanda. At Bridge2Rwanda, she helped recent high school graduates learn English, study for the ACT and SAT and apply to schools in Europe, Africa and the United States. Through her experience in Rwanda, she realized she wanted to gain a deeper understanding of the higher education system. This lead her back to the United States where she began working at West Virginia University Institute of Technology as a resident director while completing her master’s degree in higher education administration.
In her new role with College Possible, Armelle is looking forward to supporting her AmeriCorps members and researching various resources and opportunities for students to utilize. “[During my master’s], I did a lot of research on first-generation students and students from low-income backgrounds, and I became passionate about advocating for them,” Armelle said.
Armelle hopes to use her own undergraduate experience as well as her experience working in higher education to empower students to find resources and opportunities on campus.
“In a way, I was a first- generation student myself, being an international student. My parents did not know a lot about the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or college applications, so I had to refer to the resources available. [When I began working in higher education], I was exposed to available resources and opportunities I wasn’t aware of during undergrad. I want students in college now to understand how many resources are available, they just to need to be pointed to them and look for them.”
