I have spent the past two-and-one-half years at City College, and though I truly treasure my experiences here, friendships I’ve made, teachers I’ve gotten to know and the plethora of knowledge I’ve obtained, it’s time to move on.

It’s a mixture of excitement and dread all at once, every ounce of work you’ve put into obtaining that AA degree or getting good grades has led up to this one defining moment: transferring.

I applied to several schools and was accepted as a double major in psychology and journalism at several schools. Many schools were impacted, didn’t suit me financially or didn’t have all the elements I was looking for in both learning departments. Believe it or not, I settled on Sacramento State University and will be attending in the fall of this year with an AA degree in psychology in hand.

The last time I made an appointment with a random City College counselor was over a year ago. I made sure that we had a game plan of what I needed to do to before I transferred. I didn’t want to keep going back.

The following are suggestions I gathered from my experience for those of you who plan…» Read More

Choosing a major is one of the first steps toward laying down the building blocks of an educational future. From undecided to biological sciences, the process of choosing a major can be confusing, lengthy and says a lot about a person’s character.

And it’s a choice that often comes with a story.

“Before I had my son, I didn’t plan on even going back to school,” says 21-year-old City College student Soledad Jimenes. “Now I plan on being a teacher or running a day care.”

Jimenes, who is majoring in early childhood development, is currently a freshman and working on her general education requirements.

She says her son inspired her choice to major in child development.

“[I want to] learn because I see how much my son is learning,” says Jimenes. “I saw how my parents were, and I want to know how to help my son because I had to do everything on my own. I didn’t have support.”

Many students choose their majors based on interests and people who have influenced them in their lives. The City College Career Center on campus offers resources such as Eureka, which provides information on more than 800 career options and more…» Read More

Authors of “Somewhere Inside,” journalists Laura Ling and older sister Lisa Ling, will be speaking at the Strive for Strength retreat on April 2.

The Lings will be talking about their experiences and successes as American journalists, who grew up in Sacramento, with an emphasis on “informing, educating and empowering female participants.”

Lisa Ling is best known as a co-host on ABC’s “The View”, hosting “National Geographic Explorer,” reporting on “Channel One News” and being a special correspondent on the “Oprah Winfrey Show” and CNN.

Laura Ling has worked for “Current TV” as a correspondent/vice president of the “Vanguard Journalism Unit” which also produces the Vanguard TV series. In June 2009 after crossing into North Korea illegally, Laura Ling and another journalist were sentenced to 12 years in a labor prison. She was pardoned and released a few months later after former President Bill Clinton intervened.

Adrienne Bankert from KCRA 3 will be emceeing the event, and youth speaker/positive role model Julie Marie Carrier will be speaking earlier in the day.

The event will be hosted by the Sacramento Asian Sports Foundation (SASF)’s Strive for Strength Bel Air Wong Family Community Center located on 9040 High Tech Ct. in Elk…» Read More

All students know that a good education is hard to come by. Choosing the right school, playing the waiting game in the application process and watching fees rise make it almost impossible to complete a bachelor’s degree in just four years. Undocumented students have even fewer options and more challenges to overcome.

The DREAM Act (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors), proposed by President Barack Obama, would help change that.

If passed, it would provide conditional permanent residency to certain undocumented students who arrived in the United States illegally as minors, graduated from U.S. high schools or lived in the country for at least five years before the bill’s enactment. Students could obtain temporary residency for six years if they completed two to four years of higher education or served two years in the military.

“I know undocumented students, and one of their biggest fears is not knowing they are undocumented until they try to go to college and finding out they can’t get the funding—it’s really not their fault,” said political science major and Brown Issues club member Demond Richardson.

Irvis Orozco, 23, is completing his final year at UC Davis and is currently involved in many community outreach programs. Orozco was not born in the United States but was brought here by his family when he was seven months old.

“We have been lobbying for the passage of…» Read More

City College students and staffers raise awareness by discussing common civility issues and why it exist. Check out the podcast to hear what they had to say.

[audio:http://saccityexpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Final-Civility-4-2011-normalized.mp3|titles=Final Civility]

…» Read More

The semester is wrapping up but the fun is still in full motion.

People’s Day, an all-day annual event at City College for more than 40 years, will be held May 5 starting at 7:30 a.m. with a free pancake breakfast and ending in the evening. Twenty-eight different vendors with art, food, jewelry and much more will be on the Quad for students to check out throughout the day.

“People’s Day is a day for the campus to come together for a fun-filled event,” Chris Torres, City Student Affairs Specialist and organizer of the event, said.

A live mariachi band will begin playing at noon. A second performance is scheduled for 5 p.m.

The last day for registering for a booth was April 27, however, departments and clubs interested in having a booth can contact Chris Torres at 916-558-2382.

…» Read More

In this economy, a trip may be out of the question for many students, but the City College Outdoors Club has a fun and affordable solution.

The Outdoors Club invites City College students and faculty to a day of sea kayaking and instruction Saturday, April 30, at the Point Reyes National Seashore Park. The trip cost is $20, which includes basic instruction, transportation and kayak and equipment rental.

A mandatory pre-trip meeting and sign up day will be held Thursday, April 28 in RS 221 at noon. This trip is limited to only seven participants and those hoping to attend are advised to arrive early. Beginning and expert sea kayakers are welcome and all trips are handicap accessible, according to the Outdoors Club website.

In the past, the Outdoors Club has offered a variety of activities such as, skiing, surfing and backpacking.

“We have done a total of about 80-90 trips in the past six years and take several each semester,” Derrick Wydick, Outdoors Club coordinator and counselor, said.

For more information on this event, call Derrick Wydick at 558-2590.

…» Read More

Civility has become a lost art of communication and Michael Poindexter has made it his mission to find it again here at City College.

“The hardest part is just getting people to do something, ” said Poindexter, vice president of Student Services for five years, who is very proud that City College is the first in the district to address the issue of civility. “Incivility is nothing that you are supposed to tolerate.”

An open awareness meeting about Poindexter’s civility campaign was held in the Learning Resource Center March 31 for students, teachers and faculty. The goal of the meeting was to teach students and faculty what is and what is not proper conduct in a learning environment, a concept that stretches beyond campus and into the working environment as well.

“If you’re not ready for a classroom, you’re not ready for a boardroom,” Poindexter said. “City has a very high expectation of their students and [we] are a respected campus because of the many intellectuals attending here. It’s not just a city college. It is an institution full of legacies. We do have students going to Harvard and Yale from here and many Olympian athletes have come…» Read More

His jersey reads No. 1, which is exactly what he’d consider himself to be. At 6 foot 2, and weighing in at 185 pounds, meet Matt Sturges, left-hand pitcher for City College’s baseball team.

“I’ve played baseball ever since I can remember. Probably since I was like 8,” says Sturges. “My dad was a coach and my brother played at City, too.”

His experience ranges from playing countless years of Little League through Cosumnes River College to playing at Laguna Creek High School. According to Sturges, his work earned him the title of a three-time, all-league selection.

At 20 years old and in his sophomore year of college, Sturges has been a scholar-athlete for each semester he’s attended City College and obtained a JC academic letter, which Sturges considers a personal accomplishment because he chose to attend City College based on his interest in playing baseball.

“Sturges never takes a day off,” says fellow teammate and right-handed pitcher Bo Henning.

Though his future plans with baseball are uncertain, Sturges says he will always love the game.

According to Sturges, baseball has kept him on track academically, and he hopes to transfer soon to another local college. Although he has a…» Read More

Film and critics unite in the name of creativity and entertainment to welcome the Sacramento International Film Festival playing April 9 to 17. The Crocker Art Museum, Tower Theater, the Artisan art venue and Sacramento State University will be hosting this annual event.

Media Director Martin Anaya says they are expecting approximately 10,000 people to attend this year’s festival, congruent with the previous years. Anaya is especially looking forward to the upcoming event.

“We are really excited about this year because Timothy Bottoms is coming,” says Anaya. “He’s from ‘The Last Picture Show’, which has been voted one of the top films of all time. In fact this year is its 40th anniversary.”

There will also be a 48-hour film contest, which is for local filmmakers. When contestants show up they will be directed to pick a genre out of a hat. They then will have 48 hours to make a movie that will blow everyone away.

“A lot of variety that way, and we aren’t watching the same thing over and over,” says Anaya. “It also keeps things fair.”

Local filmmakers take the competition very seriously.

“There was this one year where this girl burst into tears because she…» Read More