By Rachel Sincore, NACAC Communications

MINNEAPOLIS (Oct. 10, 2026) – College admission counseling professionals know what students need: to feel that they belong, have opportunities to grow, be independent to make meaningful decisions, and have opportunities to contribute meaningfully.  

Randy Stamm, Hackensack High School (NJ) school counselor and affiliate presidents' council coordinator on the NACAC Board of Trustees, called this the Circle of Courage.  

During the final main stage session at NACAC Conference 2026, Stamm told the crowd that the Circle of Courage "doesn't just describe what our students need. It describes what we need, too." 

That's why in the final main stage session, titled "What Our Community Needs From Us Now," the mic was turned over to NACAC members and a current student at the University of Minnesota to share their own stories of challenges, triumphs, and hope for the future. 

Myra Castro, college admissions consultant at Castro College Consulting, remembers first questioning whether she belonged while in college, when a group of men shouted a racial slur at her.  

"It was the first time in my life that someone had gone out of their way to make me feel like I didn't belong because of something I had absolutely no control over," she said. 

Questioning whether she belongs has occurred again throughout her career. She's been in rooms where few people looked like her and was called worthless by an administrator. Those experiences have stayed with her but so have the people who've showed up: her college admission colleagues who listened, commiserated, and made her laugh.  

"We spend a lot of time talking about creating belonging for our students, as we should," she said. "But we also need to ask: Who's creating belonging for us?" 

For her, the answer lies in bayanihan — a Filipino value that's about the spirit of a community coming together to accomplish what no one person could do alone. 

"What can we lift together?" she asked. 

Marquez Young, director of admissions at Sinclar Community College (OH), believes students don't need another person telling them what to do. They need someone who can see what's possible before they can see it themselves. 

That was the case with Robert, a student Young met in 2019 who wanted to attend North Carolina Agricultural and Technical (A&T) State University and become a network engineer. Unfortunately, his GPA and ACT score weren't likely to get him in. 

Rather than accept defeat, Young was determined to get Robert there. The path would just look a little different: attend Sinclar Community College for two years, build a strong academic foundation and earn college credits, then transfer to North Carolina A&T. 

This story embodies what Young thinks is needed today: people who are willing to walk alongside students, look beyond grades and test scores, and show them possibilities they may not know exist.  

"I want you to think about the person who changed the trajectory of your life," said Young. "Now here's the uncomfortable question. Are you that person for somebody else?" 

In December, Robert graduated from North Carolina A&T. 

Alyson Leas, director of admissions at the University of Jamestown, knows what it's like when things are on fire — literally. 

Just days before scheduled campus visits and a full-ride scholarship competition, the admission office, cafeteria, and student union burned down.  

"We talk a lot in enrollment about constantly being asked to do more with less," she said. "We were facing doing more with nothing. Cancelling never crossed our minds." 

With the trust of their new vice president of enrollment, Leas and the admission team were granted full autonomy of travel planning, college fair materials, campus visits, scholarships, and much more. Suddenly, a team that had been empowered to move quickly had to figure out how to keep the momentum going without an office, a cafeteria, or a student union. They were so successful that many of the families and prospective students at their scholarship competition said they wouldn't have known the event was scrambled together if not for the smell of smoke. 

"Because our VP had instilled us with trust and responsibility, we didn't need to wait," she said. "If we had sought permission, if we had played by the rules, if we had moved at less than the speed of admissions, we would have missed out on 48 deposits." 

Her bottom line: "Trust your team. They've got this." 

Pennie Douglas, executive director of the William H. Douglas Foundation, experienced a couple stress-induced medical scares before she decided to pursue her passion of helping students.  

While miserable and overworked in her job in the private sector, she often found herself helping colleagues' children through their college search process. What she found fired her up — the same barriers she experienced as a student were still problems today.  

While laying in a hospital bed after an emergency surgery, she asked herself, "is this my end?" That's when she decided to make a change. Months later, she launched The William H. Douglas Foundation, a non-profit designed to help students attend the college of their choice regardless of their socio-economic background. She credits NACAC and WACAC for helping her build connections and gain the necessary knowledge to sustain the foundation.  

"My entire retirement, stocks, and home were vested in a dream…" she said. "I love you all that believed." 

Yami Carrera Mora, a first-generation college student at the University of Minnesota, struggled to imagine college in her future. With cost as a barrier, she credits her ability to pursue a degree in psychology to her college counselor who connected her with the Caddie & Leadership Academy.  

Through summer caddie work and other opportunities, she earned money each summer for college. But what made the biggest impact was she was selected by the academy as a recipient of the Evans Caddie Scholarship, which covers full tuition and housing costs at partner colleges and universities.    

"Something I really appreciated at my school was that my college and school counselors wanted to meet with me and check in," she said. "It made me feel like I was seen and I wasn't just a number or a simple check in."