John Nejman is the new Associate Director of College Counseling at Berkeley this year. Counseling at Berkeley after living in Rwanda for a number of years, Nejman says that he was immediately drawn in by the happy students and community atmosphere upon visiting the school.

GREAT OUTDOORS: Nejman enjoys doing outdoor activities with his nine-year-old daughter.

Nejman began his educational career as a science teacher, and he originally planned on going to medical school; however, Nejman noticed the need for college counseling programs in Rwanda after moving to a school there. He has been in the college counseling field ever since. Nejman says that one of his favorite parts of the college application process is watching students gain a sense of achievement about their high school accomplishments. When he’s not at school, Nejman enjoys the outdoors and spending time with his daughter.

Having lived in countries such as Brazil and Rwanda was a great experience for Nejman because he got to learn from the perspectives of other cultures. He specifically says that Rwandans and Brazilians are extremely kind, personable people, and he appreciates that they don’t take life as fast-paced as Americans do.

Nejman’s main goal as a college counselor is to see students feel proud of themselves and confident in their applications. His advice to stressed juniors and seniors navigating the college process is to “just believe in yourself, block out some of the noise and focus on what you want.”