For decades Jon Beard and Nicole Chichon gave college counselling to students at Saltus Grammar School. Now retired, the two have formed their own business, University & College Advisory Network. “We are not here to replace the schools,” Ms Chichon said. “We know that the schools are doing a great job. However, if you have 100 children to take care of, can you really give them as much individualised attention as you want? We are here to give that one on one.”

Mr Beard is concerned that a lot of students wait too long to start looking at colleges.

“I talk to some students informally, who are due to go away next year, and they have not even started looking at universities,” he said. “They seem to be depending on the world to just find a university for them.”

Instead, he thinks students should start looking at universities and colleges in their second to last year of high school, or even earlier.

“We suggest students start the process in their sophomore year, even if it is to consider where they might want to go and what they want to study,” he said. “It might well determine what courses they want or need to take in their last two years.

“That way, you do not get to your senior year of high school and suddenly realise you should have been taking chemistry or history to get into your chosen programme.”

They have also seen a need for assistance in the first year of university.

For young people from a small island, thousands of miles from home for the first time, the early months abroad in university can be stressful and confusing.

“I was at a Saltus alumni event in Canada,” Mr Beard said. “I talked to one student who said she was like a duck. On the surface she appeared calm, but below the surface she was madly paddling. This was several months into the semester and she had no idea how to choose her courses.”

Time management can also be an issue for a new university student.

“We can provide mentorship,” Mr Beard said. “Otherwise, they are calling their parents, and the parents don’t know who to call or what to do. We have got contacts in a lot of places, and we have been through this with students enough that we can help.”

Mr Beard and Ms Chichon worked at Saltus together for more than 20 years.

“We were both deputy heads at Saltus when we finished working there, but we also ran the college counselling part of the school for about ten years,” Mr Beard said.

Ms Chichon has the added advantage of first-hand experience, on a personal level. Her two daughters have recently been through university in Canada and Britain.

Ms Chichon and Mr Beard also help with scholarship applications. Mr Beard said applying for scholarships in Bermuda has been made easier by the Bermuda Scholarships website, but the procedure can still be a maze to work through.

“We can give guidance on university accommodation,” Ms Chichon said. “Sometimes students, especially going to the United Kingdom, do not get the grades they need to get into their chosen programme. We are there for that piece, as well.”

There is an initial sign up fee of $200. Then clients of UCAN can pay for one session, or however many they need.

“Sometimes you get people moving along a path and they go, ‘OK, I got this’, and other people might need hand holding for a longer time,” Mr Beard said.

His advice to young Bermudians in college, for the first time, was to get out and meet people.

“Things have changed over the years,” he said. “Before we had the internet, the only way to get in touch with people back at home was to pick up the phone, and that was expensive.

“Students were almost forced to make friends. Now, with FaceTime and other apps, I have heard stories of some students spending all day in their ‘dorm rooms’ talking to their friends in other universities.”