Brainerd High graduate, and accounting major Marcus McCullough, right, mentors new Chattanooga State students Wednesday to familiarize them with the campus. "You need to be in class and be on time, if no one has told you, " said the college sophomore on the walk.

Less than a week away from her first day of college, Megan Collyer has already made a solid dent in her to-do list -- and in her stress level.

She's prepared to navigate the manic parking situation at Chattanooga State Community College. She's mastered her school email account. And she doesn't have to worry anymore about getting a college ID. But 19-year-old Collyer is most relieved about making new friends in Chattanooga State's incoming freshman class.

"I already know people who are in my classes that haven't even started yet," she said.

All that comes after spending Wednesday with college mentors and about 60 other Hamilton County freshmen in the pilot class of a college retention program called SOAR, for Student Opportunities, Access and Retention.

The Public Education Foundation received a $1 million grant from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission for the project, which aims to help first-generation college students complete two years at the community college before moving on to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to finish their four-year degrees.

SOAR students are paired with Chattanooga State sophomores who serve as mentors to the college newbies. On Wednesday, incoming students and veteran mentors gathered at Chattanooga State to learn about the campus and its working parts.

"It's really all about the support," said Gregory Tate, SOAR's lead mentor. He said providing participants with a network of mentors and peers will help keep students in school.

"It's all about being confident," he said. "If you just show up with 10,000 other people, it's easy to get overwhelmed."

Students of Tyner Academy and Brainerd, Central, Red Bank and Soddy-Daisy high schools are eligible to participate in SOAR.

Misty Lacey, lower left, guides first time college students past the Bursar's Office on a campus tour. The day is part of a Public Education Foundation partnership with Chattanooga State, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.

Collyer and her mentor, sophomore Jessica Cecil, both graduated from Soddy-Daisy High School and are pursuing nursing degrees. Cecil said she would have appreciated this orientation when she was a freshman last year, especially information from other students about the best class times and professors.

"It's nice to have someone tell you all the things most people won't," Cecil said.

The 12 mentors will check in weekly with participants via phone, text or the Internet, as well as meeting face-to-face at least once a month. The freshmen will also take some courses together, as well as meeting with PEF staff regularly.

"They can't get away from us," joked Elizabeth Burgess, PEF's SOAR grant coordinator.

Burgess said students also will have mentors when they move on to UTC. She hopes some of the current mentors will serve the same role at the four-year school.

She told incoming students that just showing up on Wednesday was a big first step. But she said students must be motivated to move beyond Chattanooga State.

"We need you in and out and on to UTC," she said. "The goal is not to stay here forever."

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