Words of Wisdom

Words of wisdom from recent high school graduates:

"A psychology teacher taught me always to do what I love, even if it doesn't pay well. A gymnastics coach taught me that who I am as a person is far more important than who I am as an athlete. A Spanish teacher taught me never to judge anyone by what they seem because we never truly know what anyone goes through." -- Elana C., La Costa Canyon High School.

"Persistence is more important than talent, and will earn the respect of others." -- Thomas S., Mission Bay High School.

"The successful person makes a habit of doing what the failing person doesn't like to do." Christian K., El Camino High School.

High School Graduates Share Words of Wisdom appeared in the "U-T San Diego" on June 11, 2013.

Job opening and internship available

 

 

San Diego City Councilmember Emerald’s office is currently accepting applications from motivated high school and college students looking to gain experience interning for an elected official. Interested applicants should e-mail Abigail Santos a cover letter, résumé and at least one letter of recommendation, along with a brief writing sample, to santosa@sandiego.gov. Please feel free to call (619) 236-7042 with any questions. The internship info was forwarded by John Gradilla. 

18.5 million donated to UCSD

How will UCSD use the $18.5 million donation it received from a graduate of its computer science and engineering department? Read $18.5M Dream to find out. The "U-T San Diego" article appeared on June 6, 2013.

Is College Worth the Cost?

Is it worth the tuition and possible student loan debt to earn a college degree? Compare wage and employment rates for high school graduates versus people who earned a 4-year degree in this U-T San Diego article published on June 4, 2013.

San Diego Needs Engineers



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A study by Monster.com has placed San Diego 4th in the country for engineers. "Anyone just entering college should consider a career in engineering if they want to take advantage of where the jobs are and will be," said Joanie Ruge, a "Monster" employment industry advisor. San Diego Has Healthy Supply of Jobs was published in the "U-T San Diego" on May 27th, 2013.

A UCLA nationwide survey has concluded that freshman college students list getting a job as a primary reason they are going to school. Eighty-eight percent of 192,000 students indicated this is a primary motivation for attending college. More College Frosh Rank Job Over Education appeared in the "U-T San Diego" on Feb. 11, 2013.

Summer Classes

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Community college summer scholarships available for classes at National University: June-Math 210 Probability and Stats, July-Com 103 Public Speaking and Eco 203 Prin of Microeconomics, and Aug.-Eco 204 Prin of Macroeconomics and Psy 100 Intro to Psyc. Contact Maheba Merhi at 619-987-0043 or mmerhi@nu.edu for more info. This was forwarded by Marilyn Harvey.

Outreach position

1.      JOB OPPORTUNITY: The Mental Health Counseling Center is NOW recruiting, interviewing and hiring exceptional candidates to join our two teams of Peer Educators and Veteran Peer Mentors. Each position is 10 hours/week, starting in August, and pays $9/hour. Students must be taking 12 units or more next semester. Peer Educators will help to fight Mental Health stigma and prevent suicide. Any interested student can contact Julie at jlittle@sdccd.edu for more info. Veteran Peers should be veterans of the military and will help fellow student vets make the transition to civilian life. Vet candidates can contact Esdras at egonzale@sdccd.edu.

Graduation



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Graduation is in the air. Here are two stories of graduation from local universities -- SDSU and USD. Grads in Red and Black and USD Grad's Success Easy to Process appeared in the "U-T San Diego" on May 18, 2013. City's graduation was Friday, May 24th.

Passion for Music

picture courtesy of Nicholas N.

"I believe in my talent" -- Nicholas N.

In a world in which the fine arts are increasingly seen as frivolous and impractical for employment, Nicholas N. is going against the grain. He is not only a music major, but envisions himself as a singer, a goal that would have many parents cringing at the bleak prospects for earning a living. Nicholas is not only unafraid; he actually embraces the challenge. He looks for opportunities to be creative. His black and white photography was displayed at the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts while he was in high school. He recently made up a song about primates for one of his college classes, and he performed in the annual City College Talent Show sponsored by Tandy Ward on May 17th.

Where did Nicholas get his zest for music? His father influenced him by being a music fan with a range of artistic sensibilities. Among Nicholas’s varied interests: photography, drama, modern dance, tap, ballet, choir, and musical theatre. “I try to use creativity,” Nicholas conveyed. “I take advantage of every music opportunity I’ve been given.”

Lower Student Loan Rates?

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Senator Elizabeth Warren from Massachusettes is proposing to lower student loan interest rates:

“[T]he federal government is going to charge students interest rates that are nine times higher than the rates for the biggest banks,” said Sen. Warren, “the same banks that destroyed millions of jobs and nearly broke this economy. That isn’t right.”

Sen. Warren Introduces Bill To Lower Rates On Student Loans to .75% For One Year appeared in the "Consumerist" on May 9, 2013. The article was forwarded by Lana Kapchinsky.  

Hiring Peer Mentors!

First Year Experience:

The “First Year Experience” office provides support to all students who are in their first year at San Diego City College. FYE provides students with the necessary tools that instill positive academic habits, in addition to an abundance of support systems. These essentials ultimately guide students into a continued successful college career.

 Job Opportunity:

Position- First Year Success PeerMentor

Open to- Current or Transferring City College Students with at least a 3.0 (minimum 30 units completed toward degree/transfer), as well as University Students who at one time transferred from City College.

Position will focus on- The peer mentoring program focuses on seasoned college students supporting first year students. As a role model mentors help, teach, motivate, and inform mentees how to be an above average student.

Biotech jobs don't require a 4-yr degree

What does it take to get into the biotech industry in San Diego? According to a U-T San Diego article, Biotech Report Stresses Practical Education, you need hands-on training which can be obtained at many community colleges and universities without completing a bachelor's degree. The article references San Diego Miramar College and CSU San Marcos. City also has training in biotech.This article was published on April 27, 2013 in the "U-T". It was forwarded by Sharon Rhodes.

CarMax is hiring

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CarMax is hiring in the areas of sales, business office, purchasing, and service operations. Click "Read More" below for more info.

Completion/Transfer rates dropping


Less than half the students who started in a California community college in 2006 completed their goal after six years. What is causing the drop in degree completion and transfer rates? Fewer Community College Students Completing Their Degrees appeared in the "LA Times" on April 9, 2013. The article was forwarded by Rudy Zamora.

Want to see how City College compares to other CA community colleges in completion and transfer rates? The "Student Success Scorecard" will break it down by gender, ethnicity, and age.

Have an opinion about why students are not finishing their degrees? What obstacles have you encountered in school? What do you think would help? Post your reaction to this article in the "comments" below.

Summer classes

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As many of you know, summer classes aren't available at City this year, but there are other options. Rudy Zamora and Luis Perez have informed us that Grossmont College and Cuyamaca College will be offering extensive classes this summer. It's best to apply to these colleges by April 12th. Patsy Maes and Cathi Lopez told us Palomar College is offering summer courses. Apply by April 30th. Also, we will be offering cross-enrollment with SDSU. If students want to enroll at SDSU this summer for one class at a reduced cost ($52.00 for the course), they need to go to Admissions (A-112) to start the process. Students must be enrolled in 6 units at City during the spring 2013 semester to qualify.

The following info about SDSU cross-enrollment was provided by Marilyn Harvey:

SDSU summer class schedule has been released and can be found at https://sunspot.sdsu.edu/schedule/#.   There are three sessions during summer and each one has a different deadline to add/drop courses.

There is now only one schedule adjustment deadline per session. 

S1  (6 weeks)     Classes begin May 22 and the deadline to add/drop a course is May 31.

T1  (13 weeks)   Classes begin May 22 and the deadline to add/drop a course is June 4.

S2  (6 week)      Classes begin July 8 and the deadline to add/drop a course is July 16.

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Because the course offerings at our campuses may be very limited this summer SDSU will accept forms verified using spring 2013 attendance in 6 units.  If a student was not enrolled in 6 units for spring 2013 then they cannot be verified for cross enrollment for summer 2013.

The verified forms must be turned in to SDSU by the student to the Office of the Registrar by the deadlines stated above.  NO exceptions will be made for late forms.   All SDSU matriculated students are held to the same deadlines with no exceptions so any student wishing to enroll via the cross enrollment program must do the same. 

The cost is $52 per course and only one course can be enrolled in for the entire summer term. 


  

New Scholarships!

This $500.00 scholarship is for students between 18-25. Deadline: Sept. 30, 2013.

The following link from Nora Hinsley provides info on many types of scholarships:
http://ccctransfer.org/resources/scholarship-links

GPA Questions Answered

by Kelli Turpin



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This blog post is in response to an anonymous comment on the blog a few days ago regarding GPA.  I’ve edited the questions a bit and answered them a little more fully than the commenter probably thought I would. 

Let’s start at the beginning.  GPA stands for Grade Point Average.   Your GPA tells anyone looking at your transcript how good your grades are.  (You’ll notice I didn’t say “how good a student/person/employee you are.  Your grades are a direct reflection of how well you absorb and remember specific information, not necessarily how much you know and definitely not how smart you are.) 

Student Profile

"I had a great teacher who really challenged me, and I challenged him back." -- Rediet.

Rediet T. came to the U.S. at the age of 18 as an international student from Ethiopia. Everything was new. The country, the educational system, even the communication was hard. Living and going to school in a different country was scary. She didn’t know a lot of people, and Rediet was away from her mother, her center of comfort and stability since the age of 3-and-a-half when her father passed away from cancer.

The school system in Ethiopia is completely different. There, the schedule is set for students, and they have limited choices. After high school, students take a test similar to the SAT, and they need to score high enough to choose a certain major. Rediet earned a good GPA in high school but she still didn’t get into the university she preferred. She ended up studying at Arba Minch University but really wanted to attend Addis Ababa University because that’s where she grew up. Then Rediet obtained an international student visa to study in the U.S. and came to San Diego City College.