At ScholarMatch, we make college dreams possible for underserved students.

Our college drop-in center on Valencia Street provides game-changing college access services — including personalized college counseling, test prep classes, and workshops on college list-building, personal statements, and financial aid — to students within the community who are the first in their family to go to college.

At the heart of this work are ScholarMatch volunteers, individuals who are passionate about mentoring students on their path to higher education. Without the unwavering support of our volunteers, we would not be able to fulfill our mission of helping sending hundreds of students to college every year! We recently caught up with one of our incredible volunteers, Todd Smithline, and talked about how he pays it forward as a volunteer College Coach at ScholarMatch.

Hey Todd! You’ve been volunteering with ScholarMatch for almost 4 years now. What has your experience been like?

“I’ve lived in the Mission for 25 years, and I’d probably walked past ScholarMatch a hundred times. When I finally walked in to see what it was about, the staff was incredibly welcoming. I was glad I came in, because I was looking for a way to volunteer and contribute to the community.

What I think is magical about ScholarMatch is that the way the organization runs is exactly how it looks when you walk by on the street: there are tables where you sit for a few hours and help the students. It’s direct service. To me, there’s a pureness to that approach that’s very fulfilling.

The actual work the volunteers do is helping students refine their ideas for their college essays, get the ideas in writing, and then create a polished final product. It’s important work and ScholarMatch provides great opportunities for volunteers to help in this process. There really is something magical about sitting with students at the table and just doing the work.”

Why is the work that ScholarMatch is doing important, especially now given the recent news about the college admissions scandal?

“I had this funny experience with ScholarMatch where the first couple of times I volunteered, I would go home and say, Wow, you can’t believe this student’s story: their family is living in one room, their parents don’t speak English, they’re the first person in their family who’s going on this adventure to college, they’re working, they’re taking care of other family members — and somehow, they’re getting to ScholarMatch in the afternoon and asking for this help.

But after the twentieth time you hear this story, you realize that we have this whole population here in San Francisco that is doing this. These students don’t think that their stories are extraordinary, but, of course, they are.

I find that when I’m working with these students, I’m trying to get them to understand that they do have incredible stories to tell. Just because their peers at ScholarMatch may have had somewhat similar experiences doesn’t make their own story any less special or impressive.

I have come to the conclusion that, as a volunteer, one of the most important things we’re doing is sitting with these students for a couple hours and telling them they’re important. I think in our society, it’s very important to tell these students that they belong here and that these elite institutions are for them.

When I applied to college, I can still remember sitting at our family’s round kitchen table and working on my essays. My mom was a professional and went to college and graduate school, my father was a professional and went to college and graduate school, and I was a legacy and had that whole thing going for me. These students don’t have that at their kitchen table, and I think it’s important that we, as a community, provide that for them.”

You’re also a Lecturer at Berkeley Law. Do you have any advice for first-generation college students and how they can succeed while in college?

“I’ve been teaching for 10 years and what I’ve learned is that the students who have passion, the students who take the extra step, are the ones that will ultimately succeed.

I would focus hard on your studies and do really well, because you have a great opportunity in college. Really make something of it!

Also, don’t be shy about meeting people, staying in touch with them and nurturing those relationships. You might be surprised that when it comes time to hire, people tend to be myopic and look at the immediate circles of people they know. So if there’s someone who’s been persistently expressing interest over time, they’ll often reach out to that person because they bothered to stay in touch. I still have very, very good friends from college and law school, and they remain a big part of my personal and professional lives.

Lastly, go take classes that are outside of your interest area — push yourself. Take a history of architecture class, an anthropology course, a philosophy class. No matter what you think you may want to become in your professional life, it’s important to pick up other skills and perspectives.”

Todd Smithline received a BA, cum laude, from Tufts University and a JD from UCLA School of Law. When he’s not helping students craft their personal essays at ScholarMatch, Todd is a Managing Principal at Smithline PC, a San Francisco-based law firm that specializes in technology transactions, product legal review, and open source advising. Todd has also been teaching Video Game Law at Berkeley Law since 2010.

ScholarMatch is a non-profit education organization based in San Francisco, whose mission is to make college possible for underserved students. Their 7 year program supports students from low-income backgrounds get to and through college and into a meaningful career, with the support of dedicated volunteers like Todd.

Learn more about ScholarMatch and how you can support their mission to make college possible at scholarmatch.org/get-involved.

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