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PAGE 4 Read more to find out the details about Rio Hondo Women’s Soccer victory against LACC on Wednesday, October 17th. Thursday
RIO HONDO HOSTS BLOOD DRIVE
Sierra Uribe
GIOVANNA HERNANDEZ
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Vol. 67 Issue 3
October 19, 2023
D1 DEAN OF ATHLETICS
@giovannahernandezofficial
ports are important because they bring people together and create bonds, conflicts and so many memories; it’s something that many people participate in. In schools, sports and fitness are a huge part of student success and student community. With that being said, schools offer you a chance to represent your colors in your sport or be involved in fitness like our Rio’s Kinesiology course, while still going to school. It gives young adults an opportunity to continue going to college. Being an athlete you look to your coaches or instructors for guidance but who do they look to? Dean Nedra Brown is who you’re gonna turn to with anything that has to do with Athletics, Dance and Kinesiology at Rio Hondo College. She oversees everything that has to do with the athletic programs, makes schedules and gives everyone everything they need. If you’re a coach or Kinesiology Instructor, Dean Brown will support you with timesheets, meetings and especially practices and games. “My favorite thing about being a dean of Rio is that I get the opportunity to not just be part of athletics, but here I can be a part of other disciplines like dance and kinesiology, “she says. Dean Brown has been here at Rio since December of 2021, and continues to emphasize on how a true athlete at heart cares about her students striving to make every athletic program better every day she’s here. Being only here a couple years she’s made an impact on many with her athleticism, experience and knowledge in sports. But as mentioned before everyone has a story, so you ask yourself once again, where did Dean Brown come from? Dean Brown was born and raised in Memphis, Tenn.
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being the youngest of three. She went to Elementary school in California for a bit, then finished her k-12 education after attending Hillcrest High School. Her love for sports began in 7th grade. When she was in high school she played quite a few sports such as volleyball, basketball, softball and tennis. After high school, she stayed local and went to Le Moyne College, which is a small, historically black private university for liberal arts. There she continued playing basketball, winning a championship the year she graduated in 1995. Dean Brown got her Bachelor’s Degree of Science and Biology, and started working in 1996 at the same college she graduated in. She worked there for 10 years until her departure in 2006. During that time, Dean Brown decided to go back to school to get a degree in Counseling. “I’m an athlete at heart, going back to school I felt as if our student athletes were not getting the same opportunity and information as some of the higher academic students so I wanted to be the person that gave them one,” she says. In 2006, she went on to become head coach of Kentucky State’s Volleyball Team. From there, she got the incredible opportunity to be head coach of Alabama A&M University’s Volleyball team, a D1 school. While being there for seven years, she led seven championships and won four conference championships. After having such success in coaching for so many years, she decided to retire her whistle and focus on administration. “I felt like I had maximized what I was gonna do as a coach, so I wanted to help more students, I wanted to help every sport, instead of a team, I could do it for everyone,” says Brown. From there, Dean Brown
continued with administration in a few colleges for a couple of years staying in women’s athletics. Then, in 2017, she moved to California. After landing her first job at Santa Monica College, she continued to strive in the state, later getting the Dean of Kinesiology Dance and Athletics position here at Rio Hondo College in December of 2021. You can hear the passion she still continues having for sports. Being an athlete at heart is exactly what an institution like ours needs. She continues to show young women exactly how far you can go doing something you love if you put your mind to it. “You probably have never met a woman that maneuvers the amount of things I do because I believe there’s not enough of us women working in these types of industries,” Brown says. Dean Brown makes it a point on how much she loves her job and serving not only athletes but students all across campus. When asked what she does outside of work she says, “I love going to sporting events, I recently got a bike and I also really enjoy skating.” Everyday, Brown learns something new being where she is today, whether that’s walking into a meeting or attending a game. We can only expect great things from her throughout because of her experiences in life that brought her where she deserves to be today. If you decide to come out to a game of any sport, or happen to be walking through campus, then you might run into Dean Nedra Brown – she will most likely be driving a golf cart and if you do see her, then ask her a question because she’ll probably have the right answer for you.
SIERRA URIBE @s3erra
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he American Red Cross announced on September 11th that there was a national blood shortage. Rio Hondo College partnered with the American Red Cross on Monday, October 16th and Tuesday, October 17th. Any roadrunner was welcomed to sign up, donate blood and receive a $15 dollar amazon gift card and a Seaworld ticket. But contributing to saving lives is enough for students at Rio Hondo. “I thought it would be nice to give blood to others of course as a nice gesture” said Jorge Quezada. The American Red Cross is a community partner which collects 40 percent of the nation’s blood supply. A variety of colleges such as the University of La Verne, Mt. Sac, Cal Poly Pomona, Whittier College and others also held a blood drive in recent weeks. Every person has different blood types, which makes blood donors with any blood type desperately needed. “Blood types O positive and O negative are needed the most‘’ said Senior Account Manager for American Red Cross, Daniel D’Angelo. The need for blood throughout hospitals in the nation is crucial. With unexpected daily trauma related accidents like car accidents and day to day procedures needed on patients such as surgery and cancer treatments, the blood usage in hospitals is high. “90 percent of the blood donated goes to hospitals,” said D’Angelo. During the summer months, hospitals began to not have enough blood donors come in to donate in order to equal what was needed for patient care. Every blood drive typically has around 40 people sign up and 25-30 pints are collected
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after each blood drive thanks to blood donors. Because of the construction on the Rio Hondo campus in building, the blood drives can only be held in the American Red Cross bus. “We usually would be getting 40 to 50 pints donated in a day” said D’ Angelo. Regardless of the limited space for the event, both Monday, October 16th and Tuesday October 17th dates were fully booked with donors. For many students, it is their first time donating blood. Student Dayleen Guzman said, “This is my first time and after watching Grey’s Anatomy, I was allowed to see what people in the real world go through and I am now aware that there are people in need of blood.” Other students donate blood as they relate their donation with personal experiences. “When I was young I had open heart surgery and the doctor told me she donated blood to me because there was no blood,” said student Virginia Camarena. The next blood drive at Rio Hondo will take place next semester, but anyone can donate off campus as well. The Blood Donor App allows anyone to simply check nearby blood drives and schedule appointments to donate blood. The free app is available on the app store and provides additional information for anyone interested in donating.
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News Rio Hondo College Celebrates National Coming Out Day 2
The Whittier Based Community Host’s An Inclusive Gathering for Students and Staff alike
Chris Castanon
Martin Covarrubis, one of the event corrdinators for the National Coming Out Day event, talking to students at the temporary tattoo station.
CHRIS CASTANON @chriscast3194
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io Hondo hosted an event that celebrates National Coming Out day, a day put aside for members of the
LGBTQIA+ Community to celebrate, Wednesday, Oct. 11. In an era marked by growing acceptance of the LGBT rights, National Coming
Out day serves as a pivotal moment for individuals to express their authentic selves. Rio Hondo was one
of many colleges to host an event to commemorate this pivotal moment in which all members of the community can feel safe and included. National Coming Out Day, which is observed every October 11th, is a day dedicated to celebrating the LGBTQ+ community, in the creation of an environment that allows individuals of any background to proudly share their sexual orientation or gender identity. “It promotes a safe space for everyone, someone can come out and not feel like an outcast,” Martin Covarrubias, one of the event coordinators, said, “On this day especially because it is such an important day for us to come out.” This day everyone was made to feel like they could belong and be happy with others who share the same happiness, struggles, and feelings. People could share who they are, a place made to feel safe. The National Coming Out Day had a lot to be entertained by too, with games that allowed people to have fun, a beer pong game that’s more sensitive caring for all to have fun. And don’t forget about
A Night of Fun and Frights
the amazing treats that you can have, like cupcakes and candy for everyone to have. Not only did the event host a wide range of students who support or are in the same pool of those who have come out of the closet, but they have also included several different foundations. These foundations, for instance, Vial Care wanted to show their support by showing that they wanted to be inclusive to members like the LBGTQ+ community. “We wanted to show that we promoted safe places as well, that the LGBTQ community has a home in us as well,” said Griselda Arce, one of the representatives of Vial Care. National Coming out day was a day to celebrate as a pivotal moment for individuals who want to express who they believe they really are. It was a day filled with education, inspiration and unity. As the world continues to progress towards greater acceptance and inclusion to those who may feel like outcasts, Rio Hondo reminds us of the importances of coming together to support and celebrate the diversity of LGBTQ+ community.
“Fright Night” at Uptown Whittier Night Market SAMANTHA MARIN sammarin4
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ptown Whittier hosted their weekly night market this past Wednesday Oct. 11. The theme of this week’s market was “Fright Night” and was centered around Halloween. There were many fun activities that people were able to participate in such as a costume contest for adults and kids and an inflatable maze. This event had a huge turnout. The streets were filled with kids, adults, and surprisingly a large amount of dogs as well. Many of them were dressed in costumes as well and it amplified the fun vibe of the night. Many of the adults find these markets very fun to experience, but they mostly find it more beneficial for the kids. “It’s definitely good for the kids because they get to experience new things and see what the community does
have to offer for the kids in Whittier,” said Tyler Gloria, a local of the city of Whittier. “I’ve been to a few of these events and they’re really fun and the kids love them”. One of the main attractions of the night was the costume contest. There were two contests, one for the kids and the other for the adults. Many people participated and had some great and creative costumes. Among some of these costumes that stood out were Jack Skellington, Michael Myers, Covid-19, Elmo, and many more. While the night market was mainly focused on Halloween and the fun events and activities, there were also over 100 small businesses up and down the whole street that were promoting their companies. One of the reasons why the night market is such a huge hit within the
community is because it gives people a chance to discover new businesses that could be of interest to them. Not only that, but it also gives these businesses the chance to grow and expand their companies by gaining new attention and possibly new customers. “It has a lot to do with the exposure,” said Jeann Lopez from Blooming Amethyst. “It helps us grow like our instagram posts and it helps us get more views,” said Jeann Lopez from Blooming Amethyst. These events can sometimes bring in more exposure and customers than social media publicity because it allows for companies and customers to talk face to face which can help them be more connected. “It definitely does bring a lot more different customers,” said Yolanda Santana, owner
Samantha Marin
of Zen Avenue Jewelry. “People go out and they don’t really expect to see vendors and when they do you are able to sell yourself to them and build a relationship with them.” These events are also a very important part in keeping the community together and helping to bond with each other.
Rio Speaks: The War On Israel VICTORIA ORTIZ elpaisanomedia
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n October 7th, a Palestinian militant group led by Hamas sent a rocket barrage towards Israel resulting in a large number of civilian deaths. Despite this happening seven thousand miles
away from Whittier, Rio Hondo students had a lot of opinions about the events that took place in Israel. Student Diego Bustos said “While the events occurring in Palestine are tragic, we must remember that the blame for this tragedy rests solely on the Israeli government, which has had
every opportunity to reverse the decades of genocide and oppression that necessitated Hamas in the first place. When peaceful protests are met with bullets, what recourse is left?”. A lot of students expressed upset feelings about the alleged news and videos that they have seen on the internet
and various social media platforms including, TikTok of the terrorists kidnapping hostages and graphicly slaughtering children. Student Rebekah Burns relayed what she had heard “My grandma said that they kidnapped a bunch of people and they kidnapped an old lady who survived
“You definitely do come across the same people so you do become friends with these people and so it’s pretty nice to see everyone come and support,” said Santana. “It’s just the vibe that they give and they bring the good energy that they have.”
the Nazis in World War II”. English major Matthew Merino said, “The Israeli Military themselves, they said they had no evidence of beheading babies”. The events that took place in Israel were incredibly tragic and if you feel emotionally impacted about what happened, you can reach out to Rio Hondo’s Psychological Services to speak to someone about it.
Miscellaneous
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ON THE DOWNLOAD RHC SOCCER PROGRAM WIPES OUT LACC RIO GUEST GIOVANNA HERNANDEZ
STUDENTS UNSATISFIED WITH SCHOOL WIFI
@giovannahernandezofficial
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O ARIANNA MORALES @tentwentytw0
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s a student here in Rio Hondo the wifi hasn’t been a useful source on campus. The slow internet connection is holding students back. The relationship between the internet connection and student achievement is weak. Most school wifis aren’t protected but do block many websites that most of us rely on. Which makes it easy for attackers to sneak software. Schools have a lot of devices in a small area. Albert Hernandez said, “It’s really bad and prevents me from being able to use my devices, it just doesn’t load cause it says I’m connected.”All these devices are competing with each other for connection to an available access point. Wi-Fi problems can stem from multiple factors. As students only source is to connect to Rio Guest wifi which is available access to anyone and everyone that connects. It’s not a reliable source for the amount of students who are connected all at once. Javier Trujillo said, “It should be better, it doesn’t reach out to the school parking lot so I
Arianna Morales
don’t like that, phone calls are laggy especially on facetime.” Students on campus all have the same question regarding the wifi…Why is the connection so slow? Why do students who pay tuition have to use the Rio guest when we aren’t guests? Edson Vazquez said, “We come to campus everyday for at least 4 hours a day and we cant even get a good internet connection while being here.” Once connected to the server the download speed is at a rate of 157.29mbps (megabits per second) and an upload speed of 36.52mbps. Downloading should be fast but having lots of students connected all at once obviously does slow our field strength. Emily Viveros said, “If I try to access canvas on my phone, there is no signal and I often miss important school emails or even personal calls.” Roadrunners are not guests at this school, they’re permanent students who often attend and rely on the school’s wifi to get assignments turned in on time.
n Tuesday, October 18, 2023 Rio Hondo Men’s Soccer defeated Los Angeles City College with a score of 4-1. In a game full of goals and clashes RHC dominated the match, the first goal came with an assist by Robert Rodriguez sent to Ulises Depaz scoring in the 18th minute. The tension began to rise between players leading to the first yellow card of the game given to Gael Armendariz in the 44th minute. Very shortly after, in the 45th minute Ronaldo Madrigal had a successful freekick scoring goal N.2. for the roadrunners. As tension continued to rise, halftime gave the players the opportunity to recharge heading to the second half. The first goal of the second half wasn’t far with yet again Roadrunner Depaz, with a lobbed cross pass from
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Robert Rodriguez. Things were looking up for RHC at that point looking like it was going to be an easy sweep to LACC, but the game continued to stay intense throughout with Elias Tafolla getting injured and leaving the game in the second half as well. Continuing the game LACC managed to score with the help of Daniel Lopez Rosas in the 75th minute in a very close range goal. As things were getting heated, the second and third yellow cards of the game were given to Cesar Naranjo of RHC in the 79th minute, and Juan Ramirez from LACC in the 80th minute. After only having a few minutes left in the game, the last goal was scored in the 90th minute by Roadrunner Robert Rodriguez with a long ranged free kick leaving the final score at 4-1, giving RHC the win of the night.
@chriscast3194
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n Thursday, Oct. 4, 2023, Heart Heroes of Los Angeles County Center came to the Rio Hondo College student union center to demonstrate CPR or Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation techniques to students to increase the chances of saving someone’s life. Heart Heroes is an organizational campaign established by the Department of Public Health in the County of LA. This campaign’s initiative is to train over 500,000 LA county residents, medical workers, and common individuals by the end of Dec. 31, 2023. Though Heart Heroes
hopes to train over 500,000 people, the event they hosted for RHC students was merely a ten-to-twenty-minute demonstration and lecture for students to understand the importance of CPR. The American Heart Association stated that more than 350,000 of American individuals are affected by cardiac arrests with most of that number being part of the Latino Community. “It is something we have prepare others for,” Rodel Rutaquio, one of the registered nurses who attended the demonstration, said, “As much as this doesn’t need to happen.” As stated earlier, 350,000 residents are affected by cardiac arrests and so these
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ight after, Rio Hondo Women’s Soccer also defeated Los Angeles City College with an outstanding score of 8-0. The girls had impressive communication throughout the game with
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many of the players scoring including Ashley Rios, Janessa Gallardo, Natalia Molinares, Sanaa Turner, Raechel Guillen and Isabel Maldonado, leaving both programs victorious.
HEART HEROES RECRUIT RIO HONDO FOR CPR TECHNIQUES CHRIS CASTANON
Christopher Araujo
Heart Heroes seek to bring those numbers down or prepare others for what happens if they see someone suffering cardiac arrests. Not many in the community know how to do CPR because of many speculative reasons. Including one, because some people do not see the importance of learning CPR when they do not know anyone with medical conditions. Or two they just have no need or reason for it. The demonstration was simple, however rigorous in how long you must keep the same beat while performing chest compression on test dummies. The demonstrators, registered nurses of Whittier
Medical, Martha Chehadi, Brenda Quintero, Rodel Rutaquio, showed several techniques that would allow students to keep the life of a person safe till any ambulance notified arrives. These students took a real shine to some of the lessons learned by the organizations hoping they could put the skills to good use if the situation calls for it. “I thought that it was a great thing for them to be here,” Daphne David, one of the RHC students who had participated in the demonstration said, “it’s best for people to know what to do in times of stressful moments like seeing a loved one passing out.”
Miscellaneous
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UPTOWN’S DIA DE LOS MUERTOS FESTIVAL CHRISTOPHER ARAUJO @chris_ jrnlsm
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ptown Whittier hosted the 18th year anniversary “Los Muertos” festival on 8 of October. With lots of festivities ranging from Alta car exhibits, live music and performances, food trucks and a costume contest. Plenty of local street vendors were in attendance selling bracelets and coffee mugs with traditional Mexican designs on them. The festival covered the entire area of uptown streets like Greenleaf, Philadelphia and Bright Avenue. Given how hot the temperature was outside, the popular drinks were the “aguas frescas” being sold at the event. People in attendance were able to get their faces painted as “Calavera Catrina.” A contest was held of “calavera catrinas” with outfits and face paint. A lot of the outfits in the contest held a special meaning to the contestants. The winner of the contest was Jezel Alanis. Alani’s hat that she wore had a curtainlike mechanism that opened so people were able to see her face and heart on her chest that was able to pump like a real one.
Christopher Araujo
Her costume was made by her grandma, aunt, and her “nina.” “A lot of engineering went towards this costume to dedicate to all my grandparents,” Alanis explained the process and significance of making the costume she wore. Alanis explained that the makeup she wore took about an hour and 30 minutes to finish. Jezel competes almost every year. This festival was an exhibition from several car clubs, this exhibition was adorned with several altars dedicated to each car owner’s friends and family. A lot of the people in the car exhibition were from car clubs that do charity events and cruises. Fidel Alvarez shared his story about his 1947 Chevy
Fleetmaster four door. Alverez has been the owner of the Fleetmaster for two years and fixed it from the ground up. “It was nothing like what you see now. The back end, that is all there was. I restored everything,” Fidel explained all the work he has put in to make his car. “I had the interior redone, all new wiring, I redid the engine, put new tires.” Fidel’s car club is the “Classic Life Car Club.”A family oriented car club that has been established for only a year, making it one of the newer clubs. “We do events like this, charitable events, and we go out on rides,” Fidel said on what the car club does together. Alvarez’s altar had his mom, mother in law, father in law, and his older brother,his
wife’s mom and dad, and his very good friend “Big Lou.” Destiny Acero, a member of a car club, has a 1968 Cadillac Coupe DeVille. She has owned it for two and a half years. “It was pretty much stock when I got it, but once I got it I kinda just took off with it,” Acero talked about the condition she got it for. “ It was always a dream of mine to have a 70’s style car,” Destiny shared her desire for wanting a classic car. Acero is part of the “Familia Ochoa Car Club,” Which is composed only of family members. “It’s like uncles, my father in law, I am actually the only girl in the car club too.” Acero said the car goes to barbecues, family events, and cruises. Her altar is three pets, her uncle Ronnie, her aunty sonya, her moms high school friend, her cousin stephany, both her grandparents. Edgar Franco is an owner of a 1987 Mazda truck b2000. His truck has an original paint job and color code from 1987. “I built it all the way up. When I took it to the body shop to get paint, it had 96 dents on it. They straighten it out for me,” Franco talked about the early days of his truck. On the hood of the truck there is a painting of a cactus heart on it.
“It is very meaningful. I have a heart condition. I have what’s called an ICD(Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator). That’s the meaning of it,” Edgar explained why the heart is painted on the hood of his truck. Franco is part of a car club called “The Exotic Ones.” They are all locals from Temecula, Inglewood, Pico Rivera, Whitter, Ontario, and Pomona. “We do events like this, We go to bigger events like lowrider shows, more than anything it’s just therapy. For me it’s therapy as it is for a lot of us. And also to go out there and ride together,” Franco talked about what his car club does together. Edgar’s altar had his cousin, his grandmother, his grandfather, his grandmother’s brothers, and his father. Franco says there is a lot more and at his home he has a bigger altar.
Christopher Araujo
LADY ROADRUNNERS STAY PER- RIO HONDO HELPING STUDENTS SUCCEED FECT IN CONFERENCE SAMANTHA MARIN @sammarin4
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Lady Roadrunners storming the court after 3-1 victory against Cerritos College.
ROBERT JIMENEZ @jimenez__robert
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omen’s volleyball wins Friday night in a 3-1 conference victory over cerritos. Big numbers were put up Friday night by Rio Hondo’s very own freshman Jade Fuentes and sophomore Maria Bejines. With a combination of 36 kills and 29 digs between the two of them. Losing the first set 25-21 the roadrunners didn’t once put their heads down. Instead they came back with one thing on their minds and that was winning. For the second set cerritos didn’t let their foot off the gas putting up 8 points right away.
But once a mistake was made Rio Hondo took advantage and had a rally of their own eventually leading 20-14. And finally winning their first set 25-19. Going into the third set was a dog fight both Cerritos and Rio taking turns putting up 10 points each. Eventually once again Rio Hondo capitalized in mistakes taking the lead 23-15 and once again winning their second set of the night 25-17 Both teams came into the fourth set hungry. Cerritos hoping to extend their night and the roadrunners hoping to send the Falcons home. Once again going back and forth in a constant tie rio hondo finally put up
Chris Castanon
two points back to back making the lead 12-10. Though cerritos did not take it lightly they tied it back up at 18-18. Though Rio led for the rest of the set it was a nail biter but finally Rio Hondo came out on top winning the set 25-23 and winning the night 3-1. Rio continues their win streak now on their 10th win and adding another match to the win column making them now 14-3 overall and 9-0 in conference play. Rio Hondo hopes to keep their perfection going Wednesday Oct.18 when they travel to take on Pasadena City College and Friday Oct.20 when they’re home versus Los Angeles City College.
ednesday October 4th, 2023, the Student Success Center (SSC) held a workshop for students who were interested in gaining some tips and advice on how to help them succeed in their future. Every week, the SSC holds a couple of workshops that students can attend and take part in. One of the workshops they recently held was the Success Strategies workshop. The focus for this workshop was about time management. The speaker Vanessa Cerano, a Rio Hondo Student Success Coach at the SSC, gave a presentation talking about time management. She explained why time management is important especially as a student. “Good time management enables you to work smarter not harder so that you can get more work done in less time even when time is tight,” said Cerano. Cerano mentioned some different tactics students could use to improve their time management skills. These tactics include keeping a schedule of any events or assignments going on in your week and putting a certain amount of time aside solely for completing any important
tasks that must be done. Another tip mentioned was to not overcommit to things. Cerano explained how overcommitting to things can sometimes cause you to feel burnout and it could get to the point where you don’t want to do anything anymore. She advised that you only commit to things that you know you will have the time for. She also talked about how having bad time management can affect you and impact your physical and mental being negatively. “Failing to manage your time damages your effectiveness and causes stress,” said Cerano. These workshops are very beneficial for students who need help in regards to their future and succeeding in life. “It helps y’all learn some tips and tricks of how to navigate college but also navigate just life in general,” said Cerano. The SSC holds many workshops about various topics including transferring, relationships, overcoming anxiety, exploring different careers, managing stress, and much more. If you are interested in attending any future workshops, head over to the Student Success Center for more information.