How Our Healthcare Pilot is Shaping a Regional Career Pathways Model
December 29, 2025
/ Team and Board /
/ Team and Board /
One of the reasons I love coaching is I get to help you realize that you’re capable of anything you set your mind to. You’re going to change your mind! Sometimes there’s a difference between what we’re good at and what we want to do. I’ve seen that in the end, doing what you love will take you farther. Coaching for me is about helping you think through those questions and the tough spots you encounter in college and helping you pinpoint your goals for your education and how you want to set yourself up for life.
Ilene Richards is a College Coach at Making Waves Education Foundation where she supports college students in discovering their own unique paths toward graduation and beyond. She studied English literature and astrophysics at Rutgers University and then earned her master's degree in teaching from Brown University. After teaching high school math and physics in the Bay Area for over 10 years, Ilene is excited to transition to full-time college coaching and make a positive difference in her community. She will always love the thrill of seeing her students gain confidence in overcoming challenges and finding the freedom and the joy that comes from learning. Ilene loves astronomy, learning languages, rock climbing with friends, and cooking with her family.
Try to always reflect on what brings you joy. The first two years of college for me were tough. I was struggling through an astrophysics major and feeling out of place. Then, in my junior year, I took some literature classes that I loved and met some very good friends who I still keep in touch with. I think taking note of what made me happy started to influence my education decisions, and gradually things started to flow.
The summer of my junior year I did a research internship with National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, on super massive galaxies and got to work on a UV telescope. I mostly remember biking around the hills of West Virginia and observing the stars at night, hanging out with wonderfully kooky people and learning a ton.
I like to be outside and looking up at trees, rock climbing, or cooking spicy curries with my family.
