Building Belonging and Supporting Success: Nashville State’s New Peer Advisors Empower Learners

A new peer advisor program, called ESOL Connect, has been launched at Nashville State to better serve the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) student population.

Spearheaded by Renae Rakidzic, assistant director of the Student Success Center at the Southeast campus, the new program is designed to use a peer-to-peer student advising approach.

We began thinking about what we could do and what do our students need,” Rakidzic said.

In addition to Rakidzic, student success advisors Jayme Hay and Michael Sostre, as well as data analyst Kati Murphy, all worked on planning the project and helped secure funding from the Advising Success Network (ASN) leading to the programs launch in the fall of 2025.

“Our great team was a huge part of NSCC receiving the funds and helped write the toolkit that will be published by the ASN for other institutions to replicate our work,” Rakidzic said."

The Southeast campus of Nashville State is home to the largest group of English as a Second Language students, and Rakidzic said they saw a clear gap in properly serving those students and helping them make informed decisions to improve their college experience.

ESOL programs are designed to help non-native English speakers improve their language skills and better prepare them for higher-level college coursework.

As student success advisors, “we can explain why ESL is beneficial, but we’ve never experienced it ourselves,” Rakidzic said. “I had done some research on it [peer advising] and so we thought we could do something on that to give students better support.”

In October, the program hired Verenice Murrieta and Luis Parra as the first two ESOL Connect peer advisors.

Both Murrieta and Parra completed the ESOL program at Nashville State, bringing a personal perspective to help other students overcome some of the same challenges they faced as students.

“I know firsthand how challenging it can be to be a student in another country. As an ESOL student, you must adapt not only to a new language, but also to a completely different educational system,” Parra said. “When I started, I often felt unsure because of the language barrier, but the professors and the NSCC community supported me and helped me succeed.”

“Because of that experience, I want to step into this role to ensure other students feel a sense of belonging and know they have someone who truly understands their journey.”

Murrieta, too, said she wanted to become a peer advisor to pass on the support she herself received as an ESOL student.

“I knew I wanted to support ESOL students in a meaningful way. Coming into college as an ESOL student can feel overwhelming, and I had people who guided me, supported me, and helped me believe that I belonged here.”

“Becoming a peer advisor felt like a way to give that support back.”

At the end of October, just as the two students were beginning their training, they and the other members of the ESOL Connect student success team were invited to attend the annual student advising conference hosted by NACADA, the leading organization for student advising in the country.

“The students got to see what advising is all about,” Rakidzic said. “They got to see the impact they can have through peer advising and see what they can do for students just like them.”

During the conference, the ESOL Connect team heard from higher education professionals from around the country, participated in small-group sessions to better refine their advising skills, and networked with other advising professionals.

The Advising Success Network asked Rakidzic to reflect on the teams experience at the annual conference for a blog that was published in late December 2025. .

For Para, attending the 2025 NACADA Annual Conference was an incredible experience.

“My biggest takeaway was realizing that advising goes far beyond just picking classes; it is about building relationships that empower students to become the best versions of themselves.”

As the program moves forward, both the professional student success advisors and this new group of student-led peer advisors see this as an opportunity to bridge the gap many ESOL students find themselves falling into.

“I see myself as a bridge between students and academics, and as a voice for ESOL students who may not always feel heard,” Murrietta said.

“Nashville State has strongly influenced who I am today by valuing diversity and cultural understanding, and that environment has made me more aware of how important representation and support are for student success.”

For Luis Parra, he says he is excited about the opportunity to help guide students not just in academics, but to help provide mentorship beyond just choosing classes.

“I am most excited about mentoring new students and helping them find the resources they need to improve their skills. I want to support them not only in their journey as ESOL students, but also as they work toward their career goals.”

With this new program, student advisors at Nashville State continue assisting all students as they move through their college journey.

Showing that with attention and focus, every student has the chance to succeed inside the classroom and beyond.

“This is putting Nashville State in a unique position to help students,” Rakidzic said. “I’m glad to be a part of it.”

Photo: Left to right: Verenice Murrieta, Michael Sostre, Jayme Hay, Kati Murphy, Renae Rakidzic, Luis Para.