MF Doom, Talib Kweli, CL Smooth, Mos Def and Common are all some of the greatest hip-hop lyricists, and one day Alberto Rocha hopes he can be included on that list.

Twenty-two-year-old Rocha is a full-time college student at City College, part-time worker and an aspiring hip-hop artist. Rocha is half of the hip-hop duo Primitive Instruments, which also consists of his cousin, 20-year-old Marco Gonzales. Together the two hip-hop emcees are known by their stage names, Retrospek and MG.

Rocha says they formed the group because of their love for hip-hop and the avenue of expression it has allowed [read more...]

The room is cold. Cluttered. Simple. No computer on the desk, no phone on the wall. The only glimpse of life in the tiny office is the many plaques and pictures of triumphant athletes that hang on the otherwise bare, quiet white-washed walls.

Plain? Sure, these walls may seem plain to an onlooker, just like the old man himself. No trophies tell tales of his own achievements, no glory given to himself. However, once you look closer the walls share a fascinating story of a City College legend.

Bob Lanza, 74, has been with City College for 42 years. As a physical education instructor and coach of the women’s and [read more...]

“There’s no business like show business.” Those words. You’ve heard them everywhere, all the time. You’ve heard them spoken in movies and uttered during a quick passing backstage of a play. But most people don’t cling to and live by them every day the way that  Lauryn Gardner, a two-year City College student does.

One recent morning, Gardner jumps out of her hot pink bedsheets, startling her cat Hollywood, throws on a Disneyland sweatshirt and ties a ribbon in her hair. The frazzled blonde frantically sprints out the door after packing her dance bag, school bag, lunch bag and anything [read more...]

Carole Bodnar plays many roles: a proud mother and wife, a hardworking nurse, a studio art enthusiast and a world traveler. Amid her changing life, there is something she will always be doing—learning.

The 63-year-old Bodnar is no stranger to a classroom. Graduating with a nursing degree more than 30 years ago, Bodnar now attends City College to study a true passion of hers: studio art. Bodnar retired from nursing last year and is now an attendant for the Kondos Art Gallery on campus through a work-study program.

Bodnar believes City College is a good place to learn and get [read more...]

Honor. Courage. Commitment. These are the core values instilled in Marines from the moment they set foot on the yellow footprints at a Marine Corps recruit depot until the time they take off their uniform for the last time. When they raised their right hand and swore to defend the U.S. Constitution, they knew it would come with great sacrifice. Family, school and personal freedoms take a backseat to mission accomplishment.

Nobody is more familiar with these sacrifices than Cpl. Mike Wong, 24, a former City College student who returned in February from a six-and-a-half month deployment to Afghanistan.

In 2008, with America still engaged in two wars—Iraq and Afghanistan—Wong heard his call to serve. Despite [read more...]

A young man found his calling in a car accident.

Apart from the impact, shock smacked this young man when he collided with the car in front of him. Shock turned to numbness as he apologized. But shock came back when the woman he hit told him it had all happened for a reason.

This young man is Jacob Mendez, and since the accident he says he has lived life with eternal optimism. He took an experience that originally caused him to feel pain and translated it into something that gave him guidance for the rest of his life.

Mendez, [read more...]

You’re always caught by surprise when a Chihuahua sends a Rottweiler running away and whining with its tail between its legs.

Nancy Hamaker does this on a daily basis.

“Get over it, and do some work!” she barks at her students. One student towers over her by a good foot, but he stays attuned to everything she says as if his life depended on it.

Hamaker watches over her 10 students who make up the front ensemble of the C.K. McClatchy High School Marching Band, as they plunk away carefully on their percussion instruments. For almost seven years, Hamaker has [read more...]

When City College nursing major Cheryl Coleman was 4, she got in touch with her creative side by taking her mom’s sewing kit and stitching things together.

Now about 26 years later, Coleman has taken that creative side one step further by creating her own jewelry line, “Cheryl’s Dope.”

Although juggling school, work and being a mom is difficult, the 30-year-old jewelry designer says it’s worth all the hard work because it provides her family with extra income.

“I wanted to help out my husband with the income to provide for our two sons and still have a little income [read more...]

What would you do if you knew you had two to five years to live? Would you go skydiving? Follow your dreams of becoming a singer or someone well-known in your field? Cherish your friendships and family members?

These are all the things that 53-year-old former City College student Cathy Speck has accomplished in her life so far.

Speck spoke on March 14 to psychology professor Joanne Moylan-Aube’s class on “The Psychology of Death and Dying.”

As Speck strolled down the classroom aisle, she was aided by her walker, decorated with mini-stuffed animals and purple streamers that hung from either [read more...]

Filmmaker Curtis Chin has been giving presentations to over 200 colleges around the globe, all asking the same question: “Who is Vincent Chin?

It’s been an eye-opening journey, he says.

“Between now and May 5th I’ll be home for like, six nights,” says Curtis. “I’ve gone to Norway, England, Canada to speak to people, so it’s been a very humbling experience as a filmmaker.”

So who is Vincent Chin, and what makes him so important that Curtis Chin is traveling across the globe to speak to college students? Three students at City College found out, learning mostly of his presence [read more...]