Welcome, the new college counselor at AHS, Mateo Leaño.

Leaño’s role is to provide comprehensive post-secondary-school counseling services to all students, including academic planning, college application support, and career guidance. With a background in global education and a master’s from a program in Madrid, Leaño brings a fresh perspective to the community of AHS. Always finding new adventures to experience, Leaño is very grateful and excited to have chosen Aspen as his newest journey. He is now focused on guiding students to find their paths.

“I think students here are very ambitious,” Leaño said. “And I don’t just mean that in the college sense. I mean that in the professional and academic sense.”

This impression has already guided his counseling philosophy to support students whether they attend a university, dive right into the workforce, or whatever they decide to do after high school. Leaño also prioritizes being a listener and understanding the AHS community.

“I think so many students are so overwhelmed with what they want to do after graduation that I believe my first role is to listen to their interests,“ Leaño said. “Success is also defined in so many different ways. I don’t just mean a student getting straight A’s and already having a job lined up after graduation. A perfect fit for college, for a student, is a place where they feel comfortable, supported, and excited to learn.”

Starting a new journey doesn’t come without challenges. AHS students are exceptionally motivated to apply for the colleges they dream of attending; however, Leaño has felt the competitive energy. Students need to collect themselves and thoroughly think through their current status before it creates chaos and uncertainty. Leaño aims to guide students through a more positive environment.

Senior year is known to have a stressful agenda for students. However, practical steps students can take now are to simply stop and take a breath, make sure they are holding themselves accountable to stay on top of the due dates, and make sure they are confident in the path and environment they want to be around after high school.

That’s a great question. So it actually started off with me just looking for my next step into being a post-secondary counselor in general. Okay, I was previously in Madrid doing a master’s program in global higher education, and I had worked in admissions before, and so after the program, I thought, what’s the next step? And the next step for me was going to counseling. And I actually saw the job on LinkedIn, and I thought, Wow, it’d be really cool to live in a place like Aspen. So I think that’s what drew me to it. I really like adventure. It’s a very different place than I’ve been, yeah,

I think students at Aspen High School are very ambitious. And I don’t just mean that in the college sense. I mean that in the professional and academic sense. So even if a student isn’t interested in going to a four year university, I’m really impressed to see what their aspirations are, if it’s not that, whether it’s, you know, continuing the family business, yeah, or going straight into a work opportunity that they’ve already gotten a promotion on, yeah, whatever it might be. So I’m very impressed with the students here. They’re very driven, amazing.

I would say my primary role. This sounds really simple, but like my primary role is listener. I think so many students are so overwhelmed with what they want to do after graduation that I think that my first role is to just listen to what their interests are. And then after I listen and get to know them and understand what their goals are, then I think I can go into the secondary part of that job, which is advising them through that path. Yeah, whatever it is.

I would just say a place where they feel successful and supported. Success is also defined in so many different ways. Yeah, I don’t just mean a student who is getting straight A’s and already has a job lined up after graduation. A perfect fit for college, for a student, is a place where they feel comfortable, they feel supported, and they’re excited to learn. I think those are probably the three most important.

I think a lot of students feel the pressure of attending a big-name university that everyone’s heard of, or maybe they’re trying to follow a sibling who has gone to a quote, unquote prestigious institution. Yeah. So I think just the overall stress of the highly competitive environment that we’re in can often get to students. Okay,

but I think my biggest piece of advice is to just trust whatever your path is after graduation. That sounds like super cheesy and vague, but it’s meant to be known, because it applies to so many different people, and so I think too many people are stressed out about what their next step is. And so I think as long as you can just take a deep breath and know that you’re gonna end up somewhere doing something, that’s what matters.