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Community
Colleges Offer Exciting Life Beyond the Classroom |
At
a community college, can you “get a life?”
You bet. Many community college students are surprised
to discover that campus life is rich and busy, even on
“commuter” campuses that don’t have
residential halls. Rarely does a day go by at most community
colleges without a performance, lecture or athletic competition.
Activities range from the offbeat to the highbrow, and
for many students, the social and extra-curricular aspect
of their college experience is as important as their academic
program.
Volunteering in the community is a popular activity at
two-year colleges. At San Antonio College, a two-year
public college in Texas, a group called "Into the
Streets" sponsors various community projects. Recently,
they gathered over a weekend with the Texas Adopt-A-Beach
Program to “Give Texas Trash the Boot,” cleaning
debris from beaches and coastal waters.
Students at SUNY Rockland Community College in New York
State spent part of their spring break organizing a food
drive and delivering food baskets to needy families.
Student government provides an important opportunity for
leadership. These groups typically oversee budgets of
as much as US$1 million comprised of student fees, making
important decisions about allocations. Student leaders
serve as liaisons to campus administration and hone their
leadership skills at town meetings, student senate retreats
and college board meetings.
Athletics are an integral part of community college life.
Teams compete in the National Junior College Athletic
Association and other regional groups in sports for men
and women. Men’s teams usually include soccer, basketball,
tennis, baseball, golf and bowling; women’s teams
are fielded in softball, basketball, tennis, volleyball,
and bowling.
Most colleges have modern weight and fitness centers,
swimming pools and other athletic facilities where students
can stay physically fit and have fun.
Young Mbagaya, a SUNY Rockland student from Kenya, discovered
that soccer was not only a way to exercise his body, but
also to connect with a diverse group of teammates and
to discover his own leadership potential. “The great
thing about becoming co-captain of the soccer team is
that being in the role of a leader motivates you to be
a better person, to be somebody who can inspire other
people.” In fact, Young went on to become president
of the Student Government Association. “Once you
unite the group of people, you achieve more; the fruits
are even better.”
Students looking for a creative outlet can join performing
arts groups or student publications. The Campus Players
at SUNY Rockland present several shows each year, including
a yearly outdoor summer Shakespeare festival.
Off-campus adventures are a popular feature of student
life. This fall, a group of students from Broward Community
College in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, went on a leadership
retreat to Lake Placid, Florida, where they participated
in a group activities designed to foster teamwork and
the leadership abilities. One activity even involved breaking
a wooden board in half by hand or foot.
Many community college students travel to various locations
in the US on house-building trips with Habitat for Humanity,
a non-profit housing ministry. Students join people of
all backgrounds, races and religions to build houses together
in partnership with families in need.
The proximity of many community colleges to major cultural
centers provides a major advantage for students interested
in the arts. The Art Club at SUNY Rockland visits major
museums and galleries in nearby Manhattan, and recently
went to Storm King Art Center to view outdoor installations
of monumental sculpture by Alexander Calder and other
great artists in the magnificent setting of the in the
Hudson River Highlands.
Sometimes students just need to unwind, and community
colleges provide opportunities for that too. On San Antonio
College, students “let it all hang out” at
the bi-monthly Karaoke Madness! At Stress-Out Day, held
near the end of each semester, students expend their energy
and get a good laugh when amusement-park like attractions
such as sumo wrestling, rock climbing, bouncy boxing,
gladiator joust, and human bowling come to campus.
Community colleges offer clubs catering to every conceivable
interest and ethnicity. At City College of San Francisco
in California, for example, the list of clubs includes:
African Americans Changing Times; Asian Music Club; German
Club; Chinese Cultural Club; Cantonese Youth Fellowship;
Club Indian; Club Italiano; Forensic Science Club; Japanese
Cultural Club; Myanmar Club; Swing City Dancers; Garden
Club; Vietnamese Club and Women United.
At SUNY Rockland, over 30 clubs include Amnesty International,
Biology Club, Chess Club, Christian Fellowship, Debate
Team, Engineering Club, Haitian Club, Hillel, Student
Nurses, Youth for Opera and more.
Cultural celebrations on campus provide a glimpse into
another ethnicity. Many community colleges celebrate Hispanic
Heritage Month, Intercultural Festival, Holocaust Remembrance
Week, Women’s History Month, and African American
History Month, for example. At these commemorations, students
can view the re-creation of an African slave ship, join
discussions about the media view of Hispanics, listen
to first-hand testimony of Holocaust survivors, play chess
against a Grandmaster and more.
Meeting people of different backgrounds proves to be an
enlightening experience for most community college students.
“I used to have a specific group of friends
of a specific ethnic background, but since I came here,
my group of friends has diversified, thanks to the great
diversity in this college,” said Arius.
Jana Janko, a SUNY Rockland graduate now enrolled at St.
George’s Medical School, encourages students to
get involved in life beyond the classroom. “The
experience you get from college is what you put into it.
Yes, you can be that commuter that comes to school, goes
to class and then runs off campus as quickly as possible.
Or you can be that student that puts the word ‘community’
into community college, and you can really get the most
out of your experience.”
Community Colleges Offer Exciting Life Beyond the Classroom
By Zipora Reitman
SUNY Rockland Community College
Suffern, NY
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