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Michelle Chen didn’t take the road most traveled, and that’s exactly why her story stands out. A 2023 graduate of �鶹��ý (�鶹��ý), Michelle transferred to UCLA’s prestigious Design Media Arts (DMA) program, a major with an acceptance rate of just 5 percent.  “The year I was accepted, they only took 15 transfer students out of hundreds of applicants,” Michelle says.

�鶹��ý (�鶹��ý) celebrated another successful year of its 4th Annual Idea Pitch Competition in November, drawing creative talent and entrepreneurial spirit from across the campus. The two-round competition challenged students to pitch innovative product or service ideas, resulting in over 50 submissions from more than 12 different disciplines. The competition kicked off with students submitting 60-second video pitches that outlined the problems they aimed to solve, their creative solutions, and target customers.

�鶹��ý’s Model United Nations team won two Outstanding Delegation awards at the National Model UN Conference held in Washington, D.C. (NMUN DC) last month. The awards mark a decade of excellence for the �鶹��ý MUN team, now winning the top award at NMUN DC 10 years in a row. �鶹��ý was the only community college, out of the 35 schools in attendance, to win two top awards. 

�鶹��ý (�鶹��ý) hosted its inaugural Partners and Pancakes Breakfast on Tuesday, December 3, bringing together more than 100 guests, including esteemed members of the college, local business leaders, and community partners. The event, held at �鶹��ý at , celebrated the college's role in workforce development and marked the kickoff of �鶹��ý’s 40th anniversary celebration. 

Ann Reichling, now 72, graduated from high school in 1970 during a period of significant unrest on college campuses.

“I was on track to go to college, but when Kent State happened, I said ‘I’m not going’,” she recalls, referring to the Ohio university where four students were killed and nine injured after National Guards shot into a crowd of people protesting the war in Vietnam.  

�鶹��ý (�鶹��ý) is proud to announce its selection as one of the eligible to apply for a new U.S. Department of Education award program recognizing excellence.

In Spring 2024, �鶹��ý received the California ELL Healthcare Pathways grant in partnership with Coastline ROP to launch free Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and Pharmacy Technician programs for English learners. The grant covered all course materials and embedded an AESL instructor in each program, ensuring students had the language support needed to succeed.

Serah Fayad, an aerospace engineering major at �鶹��ý (�鶹��ý), was selected to participate in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) prestigious Community College Aerospace Scholars Program. During Mission 2, a virtual exploration simulation held from October 23 to October 30, she joined a team of 13 students from across the U.S. to develop design solutions for a gamified mission to the Moon or Mars. This mission involved simulating NASA’s workplace roles, structure, and culture while making trade-offs within everyday constraints.

The �鶹��ý Speech Team started their season off strong by winning 47 awards across four tournaments.

On September 28 and 29, the team traveled to El Camino College to make their debut at the PSCFA Warm Up Invitational. Thirty students represented �鶹��ý Forensics at the tournament competing in events such as NPDA (team) Debate, IPDA (individual) Debate, Extemporaneous, Impromptu, and Persuasive Speaking. In the end, �鶹��ý was  victorious by winning 14 awards at their opening tournament.