2024 - From Student to Staff: Melissa Corral Quinones

When Melissa Corral Quinones, a post-secondary success coach for Elgin Community College’s (ECC) TRiO Talent Search, began her role in 2022, she remembers experiencing “a total 360,” having been a student not too long ago.

“I was not very involved at ECC as a student because I had to work full-time, too, but TRiO was the one who helped me transfer and be on top of everything,” Quinones said. “As a first-generation college student, minority, and woman, I feel like we don’t always get the support we need. Being in TRiO motivated me to believe I could even continue on and get my bachelor’s degree after ECC.” 

Quinones had no idea she would come back and work for the student support service that gave her so much as a student. She remained undecided on her major until she took a sociology class, where she said the class size was perfect and her professor truly cared about their students.

“Sociology is so broad, so you can go in so many different directions,” Quinones said. “I was  undecided, and this gave me a lot of options.”

After Quinones graduated from ECC, she transferred to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne (U of I), double majoring in sociology and Spanish. She became involved in the university TRiO program after experiencing such positivity from ECC’s program.

“TRiO continued to give me the confidence to feel like I belonged and could succeed,” Quinones said.

After graduating from U of I, she was offered a position to work in their TRiO department for the summer, solidifying Quinones' career path. “I fell in love with education, and I fell in love with helping high school students,” she said. “I finally knew what I wanted to do.”

When her summer position ended, Quinones returned home and immediately checked ECC’s job listings to see if she could secure a position back where it all started. Two years later, back on the campus she graced as an anxious student, Quinones empowers students she once was just like.

“I try to tell them not to be afraid to break the stereotype and ask for help,” Quinones said. “You are not less of a person for doing so. As a Latina, we are always afraid of asking for help because we think people might think we are weak. I want my students to know that no one will laugh at them. Ask for help, and be present.”