Meet Alejandra Villamares
Hi! My name is Alejandra Villamares and I am excited to join the Rodel team as the communications and media specialist.
My interest in bettering the education system in Delaware started in high school. I decided I wanted to be the first in my family to get my bachelor’s degree, and thankfully TeenSHARP and Delaware College Scholars came to my aid in my mission. Due to my immigration status as a “DACA-mented” person, community college was out of the question because at the time, community colleges, various states, and the federal government considered people like me undocumented. This made me ineligible for federal aid and state aid, and left me with the burden of paying my entire tuition if I attended a community college. I was unable to apply for FAFSA, so my only other option was to apply to private colleges that were “need-blind” and considered me a domestic student. My list of potential schools became extremely narrow and had very low acceptance rates. I knew becoming admitted would be a difficult task since the vo-tech high school I attended didn’t have access to AP courses, and I didn’t have access to the same resources as my wealthier peer applicants. Nonetheless, TeenSHARP and DCS helped me put together a strong student profile that granted me early admission into Wesleyan University.
The fact that I had to overcome so many challenges to merely further my education propelled me to help other students overcome these hurdles as well. In my sophomore and senior year of high school I joined Delaware Goes to College Academy as Program Coordinator where I instructed hundreds of other high schoolers how to apply to FAFSA, write their college essays, look for schools that would fit their needs, and make plans to make their student profiles more competitive.
During my undergraduate studies at Wesleyan University, I immersed myself in my creative side, and majored in film studies. This granted me opportunities to further my skillset in production, planning, and storytelling. I worked with various other students on their film thesis productions as a producer, lighting and gaffer, sound recordist, and editor. I also worked for three years at Wesleyan’s communication team as a video intern, where I created/produced video content for their social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. During my summers I interned with two different documentary centers in New York where I expanded my production and storytelling skills.
I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in film studies in 2021. Now as a Digital Media and Communications Specialist role at Rodel I look forward to combining my passions for education, communications, and content creation for the betterment of Delaware’s educational system.