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Valerie Grays: Engaging and Positively Impacting Our Students Lives
Valerie Grays, the Student Life Advisor in the Office of Student Life and Engagement at BCCC, is an important and integral figure in the lives of our students on and off campus. Grays couldn’t be more proud of the opportunity to connect with, and in some small way, help with the development of our students.
From organizing events on campus to advising the Student Government Association and being a liaison for various student clubs and organizations, she wears many different hats. Grays has an extensive background in student affairs, having worked in the field for more than 25 years.
Grays has been a part of the BCCC family since 2011, prior to which she held positions at Bowie State University and UMBC. She has formed many positive relationships through her leadership roles by helping students in their personal and academic lives.
“I love helping them realize that they are smart, super talented and that they can do anything they put they minds to.”
Lately, Grays can remember the recent joy of having students come back and personally tell her and her team about they accomplished goal of graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree and with a 4.0 GPA. “I remember when some former students got our staff, SGA and BCCC students together for an off campus dinner,” said Grays. “It was great and the old stories we shared had us laughing all night. I think it says a lot when your students still want to come back and hang out with their advisors.”
For Grays, who has grown to see BCCC as a second family, it is not just about the students but the faculty and staff as well. “Student Life and Engagement is a family,” she said. “We are small but mighty. We see students’ progress from that first day on campus to walking across the stage on graduation day.”
