Cafe Victoria

During Lent, I remove the candy from my candy bowl that sits on my desk. I’ve discovered, that when working at a Public College, it can be a challenge to work in the Spirituality. In away, taking away chocolate for 40 days creates a conversation about religion can trigger a fun reminder that they need to pencil in some faith on their must get done list.  I am not sure if I will make it to mass today. My local Catholic churches are still not advertising mass times on the Internet. In my heart, I will keep today’s daily word meditation.

Today, I learned the important lesson of loving the place you call home. I had a very Student Affairs day. It was filled with catching up on unanswered emails due to being out sick on Tuesday, getting in a 30 minute lunch before running off to a committee meeting to than turn around and advise an extra long student government meeting . As I was driving home, I got the craving for Thai Food and went down to the Sonoma Plaza. As I was walking to the restaurant, I realized how much I love Sonoma, and in away, I can’t do all I do with college students without having a place I love to call home.

We must refuel. To be our best to ourselves, to our students, to our staff, we must have a place, a way to refuel.

This past Saturday, I joined 16 student government officers for a day of leadership and team building at Westminster Woods in Occidental. At the beginning of every spring semester, I work with two board members to plan a one day mid year leadership retreat.  For the spring retreat, I’ve always used Westminster Woods Confrence center but never their ropes course. All I can say now is the ropes course is a must! Any time you get a group of people to play games, solve problems and climb trees; you are bound to have a changed group. And that is what happen to my  group. Thanks Westminster Woods! I am excited to see how my group acts this week. Monday night, we’ve got The Big Game with Napa’s Women and Men basketball teams playing neighbor rival Solano Community College and Club Rush on Wednesday and Thursday.

Lately, with the news on California budget cuts and the unknown of what the next two years will bring to Higher Education, I’ve been wondering;
-If there are no jobs, how will our students pay for their classes? Or their housing?  How will they be able to stay in school?
-If they are predicting that more people will need to come back to school for job training, why do we start offering less courses instead of more?
-If colleges are having to cut back, why are we not asking what is best for the students?

This past weekend, I and seven other students attended the Fall General Assembly sponsored by the Student Senate of the CA Community College (SSCCC). It was held at the Double Tree Hotel in San Jose. My new favorite thing is Double Tree Chocolate Walnut cookies. Soo good! My other new favorite thing is this whole idea of the Student Senate General Assemblies. This was my first time attending the annual conference. I usually would send two students by themselves. This year, I decided to join them. I am really glad I did and that we sponsored more then just two students.

The Student Senate group of student leaders really impressed me. Through out the assembly, my students joined many other students from 74 out of the 110 community colleges to write resolutions, attend workshops, run for senator-at-large positions (there were 25 candidates alone!) and vote on 22 different resolutions. The resolutions address counseling needs such as more freshmen seminars, support towards equity and diversity regarding the Umoja Community and AB540 programs, decreasing international student fees, student involvement at the Board of Trustee level and Environmental/Sustainability issues. There were 6 resolutions alone addressing sustainability issues! My students alone presented 5 resolutions.

As I watch the students’ debate, take action and network across college campuses, I kept thinking that the media needs to be here. Today’s community college students are putting a new face to who the community college student is. The community college student is no longer lost or unmotivated. Today’s community college students are serious about their education. They are willing to learn and can be an inspiration for us all.

To find out more about the action being taken at the CA statewide level by community college students, visit the Student Senate web site at www.studentsenateccc.org

With enrollment being up 23% for us, and most of the new students being 18 to 21 years, I started thinking about the similarities and differences to going to college today compared to 10 years ago. The main difference is the cost. More and more students have to work while going to school. The hardest part for a student affairs professional working at a community college is I want these students to experience campus life, enjoy their classes and transfer some day. Right now, they pay $60.00 for a class. In two to three years, they are going to be paying triple that amount at the four-year level. If these students are struggling to stay in school now, how are they going to pull if off down the road? They are going to pull if off thanks to the support and guidance from all the Financial Aid departments out there.

I have to give a huge hand for I Can Afford College.com campaign and Napa Valley College’s own Financial Aid department. Many of our students are making it to class because Financial Aid made it happen.

If you are a college student either attending a Two-Year or Four-Year college and you are not receiving Financial Aid, I encourage you to visit your Financial Aid office today. Even if you qualify for $1.00, its one less dollar you do not have to work for.

I presented my capstone on tax day! It was an amazing experience. I started out with a small video shot by me and directed by Matthias. Then I shared three competences that I thought I was the strongest in and then two competences that I would like to grow more in.  Prior to attending my capstone, my committee members review my website. They were great! I appreciated how much work they went into reading and understanding all the 12 competences. They also asked me great questions and shared some encouraging feedback.

The capstone experience was affirming.

Yes! Ladies and gentlemen, the Vickster has finished all her grad school assignments. Wow, such a great feeling. The funny part is it took me FOREVER to just finish it. Maybe there was a small part of me that was going to miss it. What’s next? In one week I do my capstone presentation. I hope you have enjoyed the fun changes to my website. For the time being, my website has shifted from a blog to a professional portfolio. Do keep checking in. I plan to still update my blog. For now, I think I will enjoy the feeling of being done. Let me tell you, the thought of not having to write a literature review for a while..is so nice!

• Having dinner with my student workers and their family at the EOPS/SSS/CalWorks Spring Banquet.
• Meeting with my boss in my office.
• Driving the new round-a-bout.
• Listening to live music in the cafeteria.
• Making time to eat an apple outside my office.
• Spending time with my board members as we wait to make quorum.

• dark chocolate
• water
• green tea
• Internet radio
• outlines