When Alicia Garcia first enrolled at College of the Desert, she felt lost. She didn’t do well in her first semester at a California community college, she says, and didn’t know much about financial aid or academic advising.
But when one of her professors announced an opportunity for students to participate in a research internship to study youth welfare and civic engagement in the Coachella Valley, her interest was piqued. she registered.
“I’m a first-generation student, so I didn’t have the resources to step into education. I didn’t know who to talk to, where to go, and all that good stuff,” she said. Masu. “But when I saw this opportunity to be able to make a difference in my community, I was all for it.”
Over the past year, the Center for Chicano Studies and Research at the University of California, Los Angeles, has partnered with community colleges in California to enroll dozens of students in a study that surveys young people in areas where two-year colleges are located. I’m here. Students who sign up to complete the survey (sometimes in an Indigenous language such as Spanish or Mixtec) receive a scholarship, earn college credit, collaborate with faculty, and receive support from a top university. You can experience what it’s like to create a scholarship.
For Garcia, the experience not only furthered her commitment to community college, but also inspired her to consider pursuing higher education.
As she was working on a project with her professor, Andrew Aleman, he began asking her if she planned to transfer to earn a bachelor’s degree, Garcia recalls. She didn’t think much of it, she said. After she spit out the names of several universities, her professor encouraged her to think more broadly and consider applying to a school in the University of California system.
“It made me feel a little bit more vulnerable. I was like, ‘I don’t think I can really do it.’ To be honest, I’m pretty unsure. It’s really difficult. What if I’m not good enough? What if I don’t get in? ‘What if?’ she recalls.
The professor objected: What if I pass the class? ‘ He said, ‘Not only that, you’re already dipping your toe into the water.’ What’s so scary? ”
Increasing transfer rates to community colleges is a perennial challenge in higher education.new data analysis Only about one-third of students enrolled at community colleges transfer to four-year schools, and only 48 percent of those who transfer earn a bachelor’s degree within six years of starting higher education. It has been shown that This means that only 16 percent of community college students transfer to and graduate from a four-year university within six years, and are low-income (11 percent), black (9 percent), and Hispanic (13 percent). ), this means that the percentage is even lower for students. ).
For Garcia, exposure to the university’s research program and the professor’s vote of confidence were important motivations for transferring.
“He just lifted me up,” Garcia said. “It’s something I’ve never experienced. It’s something I’ve never experienced. I’ve never been told, ‘You can do it.’ I’ve never been told, “You got this.” Well done, I’m proud of you. ‘That’s what I’ve always gotten from him. ”
community experts
By asking community college students to design and conduct social science research, Eder Gaona says, building the infrastructure needed to collect data in areas of California that tend not to be studied as thoroughly as Los Angeles and the Bay Area. It is said that it is helpful in doing so. – Mr. Macedo worked in research as a former senior community officer at the Center for Chicano Studies.
And since this particular research effort, called the Thriving Youth Study, targets people between the ages of 18 and 34, we are recruiting students who can use their knowledge of their neighborhoods and peers to contribute to the study. It makes sense to help with operations.
“They know where young people hang out,” Gaona-Macedo said. “It will be very useful for our research efforts.”
This study examines the social conditions that shape youth education and employment across California, focusing on youth whose families work in agriculture and other low-wage industries. Gaona-Macedo added that the input of community college students and faculty will help ensure the findings are useful locally, not just to UCLA academics.
“This allows us to get community buy-in,” he says.
Gaona Macedo said some of these community college students could join the next generation of researchers at California universities if their experience motivates them to transfer to larger institutions and earn advanced degrees. It is said that there is.
“We’re hoping to get to a point where, if possible, they start considering UC as an option,” he says. “We don’t provide any kind of ‘how-to’, but we hope that working with us will increase their curiosity.”
So far, Gaona-Macedo said, three of the students who participated have successfully transferred from their community colleges to UCLA, where they continue to work on research projects.
One of those students is Montserrat Ruiz. She first attended her research ethics training as a student at Oxnard College. She then helped develop survey questions that resonated with her peers and also helped distribute survey invitations at local clinics and events. Next, she learned how to manage her in-depth one-on-one interviews with participants.
She says the study program helped her make friends with other students and also helped her develop courage and social skills.
“It helped me come out of my shell,” Lewis says. “The more I got used to it, the more I liked it.”
Lewis, who took advantage of the free tuition program to attend Oxnard College after high school, said transferring to UCLA has been a positive experience so far. She feels like the academic load is harder than before, but she says she can still cope. She also found that she found it harder to access resources such as counseling and support at large university writing centers than at community colleges.
Lewis continued working on the research project, transcribing and coding interviews for nine to 10 hours a week. She eventually hopes to earn her master’s degree and work for a local nonprofit. The experience “made me want to continue to be involved in the community,” she says. She said, “It was refreshing to see all the perspectives in my community, in my county, that I didn’t know about before.”
Meanwhile, Garcia plans to apply for a transfer this fall to complete his bachelor’s degree. She said her professor “keeps bothering” her about it, meaning checking on her progress.
Before starting the internship, “I didn’t even know what UC or USC were,” Garcia says. “Now I have great goals and plans for myself, not just for myself, but also for the community and the people around me.”
