[Scpg] SBCC Is Life Changing for Students/Class of 2013

Sat May 25 09:51:51 PDT 2013

the power of a community college to change lives, 
read below for the life changing story of SBCC 
student Robert Gutierez, and realize there are 
many others like him.  Through my short time 
(almost 3 years) at SBCC and the Center for 
Sustainability, I have been exposed to many 
remarkable students that would not have fit, 
initially at least, in a four year college or 
university setting, but thrived in the community college environment.

I love community colleges, everything they 
represent, thank you SBCC!  Margie Bushman
(and SBCC offers a Permaculture Design Course, how amazing is that?)

For SBCC Graduates, Commencement a Time to Celebrate and Reflect

http://www.noozhawk.com/article/sbcc_celebrates_the_class_of_2013/
Class of 2013 receives words of inspiration from 
college President Lori Gaskin and graduating student Robert Gutierrez

With family and friends watching from the stands, SBCC's Class

With family and friends watching from the stands, 
SBCC’s Class of 2013 celebrates commencement 
Friday night in La Playa Stadium. (Giana Magnoli / Noozhawk photo)

By Giana Magnoli, Noozhawk Staff Writer | 
<http://twitter.com/magnoli>@magnoli | Published on 05.24.2013 9:44 p.m.

[<http://www.noozhawk.com/media/detail/sbcc_celebrates_its_class_of_2013/>Click 
here for a Noozhawk photo gallery from commencement.]

With the beach as their backdrop, 
<http://sbcc.edu/>Santa Barbara City College 
graduates filed into La Playa Stadium on Friday 
evening for their commencement ceremony.

The Class of 2013 was awarded 1,702 degrees and 
certificates, and 500 students attended the 
graduation, which was held at the stadium and 
presided over by new President Lori Gaskin for the first time.

“Let’s soak in this precious moment,” she said, 
telling everyone to take out their phones and 
take a picture that would forever remind them of that day.

Gaskin reminded the graduates and their families 
that 
<http://www.noozhawk.com/article/031913_sbcc_named_co-winner_of_aspen_institute_excellence/>SBCC 
shared the 2013 Aspen Prize for Community College 
Excellence for its commitment to student success and robust transfer program.

“Ensure that the value of your education is 
passed on one generation to the next,” she told them.

Many of the graduates who received their degrees 
Friday are on their way to four-year universities or full-time jobs.

This year’s class ranges in age from 18 to 67, 
with an average age of 25. Communications and 
psychology are the most popular majors.

“To a person, every one of you graduates is 
inspiring, genuine and delightful,” Gaskin said.

The inspiring 
<http://www.noozhawk.com/article/with_renewed_vision_sbcc_grad_sees_bright_future/>commencement 
speaker was graduating student Robert Gutierrez, 
who earned associate’s degrees in mathematics, physics and chemistry.

Gutierrez said he was nervous to accept the honor 
of being student speaker, but pushed past his 
fears, “because I have found that nothing in this 
life is worthwhile unless there is risk to achieve it.”

Noozhawk interns and SBCC graduates Cassidy Flynn, left, and Ga

Noozhawk interns and SBCC graduates Cassidy 
Flynn, left, and Gabriella Slabiak take a moment 
from the pomp and circumstance to celebrate 
during Friday’s commencement. (Giana Magnoli / Noozhawk photo)

Gutierrez’s parents migrated from Mexico to the 
Carpinteria area and worked long hours, leaving 
him without guidance or the motivation to put in 
an effort at school, he said. Poor decisions 
followed that led to a “first-class ticket” to 
Wasco State Prison and being in and out of jail for about seven years.

In 2008, he took his first big risk in life and 
enrolled at Santa Barbara City College. He said 
he discovered his goal to be a bioengineering 
research during an 
<http://www.biosciweb.net/>animal biology course 
by Blake Barron and has since been accepted to prestigious universities.

Gutierrez said he couldn’t have done it without 
<http://www.sbcc.edu/eopscare/%E2%80%8E>SBCC’s 
Extended Opportunity Programs and Services, the 
Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievement 
Program, his girlfriend and many professors who believed in him.

He challenged every graduate not to settle for an 
easy road, but to take risks and not fear 
failure. Everyone fails at one point, “but we 
must learn from our failures and have the courage to push on forward,” he said.

There’s a Spanish saying that, translated, is “he 
who seeks, will find.” Every time he was released 
from jail, Gutierrez said he tried a job and failed at it  but never gave up.

He said the most powerful lesson came from his prison cellmate.

“You know what kid? You are very intelligent, but 
you’re stupid,” Gutierrez recalls him saying. 
Gutierrez wouldn’t accept that at first, but said 
he came to value the man as a mentor, and the one 
who finally made him realize he was focusing his energy on the wrong things.

“I went from being a troubled youth to graduating 
with honors from Santa Barbara City College,” he 
said. “I went from being a nobody, perceived as 
weaker, to being your 2013 commencement speaker.”

He ended with his lesson of his own to everyone listening: It’s never too late.

“For the children in the audience whose parents 
didn’t go to college, it’s not too late,” he 
said, in Spanish and in English. “For those who 
were incarcerated or told you’d never amount to anything, it’s not too late.”

Margie Bushman
Program Coordinator, SBCC Center for Sustainability
http://sustainability.sbcc.edu/
PPlease consider the environment before printing this email.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.permaculture-guilds.org/pipermail/southern-california-permaculture/attachments/20130525/c57ac243/attachment.html>