Hiroko Kuboki’s inspiration for cosmetology stems from her childhood when her mother would creatively style her hair for school every morning. Thus Kuboki’s appreciation for hair and beauty formed.

In high school, Kuboki’s friends would allow her to apply make-up and create funky hairstyles that exemplified the current trends.

“I mainly did up-do’s, braids or any other style with a comb and styling gel,” Kuboki says.

Kuboki decided at 15 years old that she wanted to study in the United States after a family vacation in Los Angeles and Seattle. Kuboki ultimately decided to study in City College.

“I researched [read more...]

By 22, he’d seen more than most do their entire lives.

By then, he’d lived in an abandoned mall. He’d made his living picking up dead bodies — hoping they weren’t hiding a bomb. He’d been in multiple gunfights and had his vehicle blown up three times. He’d shot and killed people. He’d lost friends.

Now 24, veteran Justin Turner has been home for two years. But his time in Baghdad has not left him.

“You’re here for 15 months, and you’re fighting and you’re killing and you’re seeing these things, you know; you’re interrogating people. You don’t trust anyone,” [read more...]

In a digital age when 2,000 over-produced MP3s can be stuffed in a pocket-sized iPod connected to cheap earbud headphones, there is a haven where music is not just a plastic commodity — and it’s right here on campus.

Tucked away above a music department auditorium, a control room cramped with only seven people blasts the music of Lyle Lovett and Tom Waits. The instructor and students analyze the songs’ production, dissecting the slightest discrepancies in sound, unrecognizable to the average listener.Professor Dean Rood offers an alternative to a passive, digital world through three courses in analog technology and studio [read more...]

The Hebrew word for life looks like this: ‘n. The word is tattooed on the inside of her wrist. Her license plate reads AHVA AHT, the phonetic spelling of “one love” in Hebrew. Why does Natasha Ortega have such a fascination for all things Hebrew?

Ortega took a trip to Israel with her parents when she was 13, and fell in love with the country, the culture and the language. When she joined the Navy as a linguist, she chose to study Hebrew.

“I hoped to return to Israel,” says Ortega, a City College nursing major. “So far it hasn’t [read more...]

For many people, rap music is a way to express their personality. Rapping is a way to deliver their message to society to those who listen. Joseph Franklin uses rap music to preach the gospel.

For many people, rap music is a way to express their personality. Rapping is a way to deliver their message to society to those who listen. Joseph Franklin uses rap music to preach the gospel.

Franklin, also known as King Joseph, is a recording arts major who is the former president of DiverCity Music and Production at City College and has also performed on campus [read more...]

A student sits in his wheelchair with his son on his lap, and just for one second, wonders how things could have been if not for the night of July 20, 2007.

It was a hot July night when Derrick Saenz-Payne made the decision to leave his friend’s house after having a couple of drinks. Thinking he was OK to drive, he got in his car and headed home. One mile away from his exit, Saenz-Payne swerved for one second, and next thing he knew, he was in the other lane and BOOM!

You would think Saenz-Payne needed tons of [read more...]

For decades students have come to the City College cosmetology program with assorted backgrounds and ambitions.

Freshman Alena Trimble is no different, except maybe a little.

She has 10 children and is determined to do what she’s always wanted, build her own career.

Cosmetology Student Pursues Goals by Charlene

Not too many people can say they have lived and taught in South Korea. Not too many people can say they’ve lived in Michigan, Texas and Georgia.

Who can say those things? City College reading professor Karen Burrell.

Best known for her enthusiasm and optimism in teaching, little is known about her adventures before being a professor.

“Her hobbies are really surprising,” City College student Francisco Lizarraga says. “She tells me how she’s taken martial arts and learned how to build furniture. She’s traveled around the world and shaped her entire career and life with the globe.”

Living life on [read more...]

“Are you going to take my picture?” The low, nasal voice on the other end of the phone sounds hurried, yet genuinely concerned. He is reassured that he is just going to be interviewed today. “All right, then I won’t wax my mustache. I’ll be there soon.”

Will Sim, a 21-year-old student at City College, is the type of guy who cannot be defined. The word “eccentric” falls to its knees when used to illustrate his personality, and those who know him are left at a loss for words when asked to compare him to anyone or anything.

This is, [read more...]

Just like any other day on campus, Masahiko Hayakawa quietly packs his backpack, slings it over his shoulder and strolls to class wearing a T-shirt reading, “ Stop Bitching and Start a Revolution.”

Meet Masa, a 25-year-old City College student who decided to say “sayonara” to home in Japan and “hello” to the United States all of three years ago.

Hayakawa’s English has improved significantly, but he consults his electronic translator carefully to capture the exact word to convey his thoughts.

“At first I thought he was [read more...]