Black Firsts - These are the trailblazers of the 21st Century Page 4-5
Wednesday, February 21, 2024 – Volume 37 • Issue 16
@tccthecollegian • collegian.tccd.edu
NORTHEAST
DISTRICT
Author shares family memoir
Mentorship on all campus’
HUDA QURESHI
campus editor huda.qureshi@my.tccd.edu
The NE English Department held their annual African American Read-In Event Feb. 13. They brought out Cassandra Lane, the author of “We are Bridges,” to speak to students. In her memoir, Lane talks about how her great grandfather was lynched in 1904 and the generational impact it left behind. Lane considered what the repercussions would be generation to generation. “I remember my grandfather being in his 80s and crying in his recliner about how he never got to know his father,” Lane said. Her memoir entwines the stories of her grandparents into Lane’s own journey as she grew into adulthood. “I wanted to look at myself through therapy, through writing,
through examining my past, looking at my ancestors to see how to understand trauma, not just my own trauma, but generational trauma.” Lane said. Lane looked into generational trauma and it pushed her to write her book. “The stuff that we’re dealing with is connected to family,.” Lane said. “I started reading about epigenetics and …a science now shows that there is a direct link through ourselves, we have memory. So I really started learning about epigenetics, and then applying that to my family.” Lane found that the past was intertwined with the present for members of her family. “I had no idea until I was a little bit older that there was this ghost really that was haunting, great grandmother, she would talk to ghosts, and she was seeing, you know, things from her past back in See Read-in, Page 2
Alex Hoben/The Collegian
NE associate professor Annette Cole, author Cassandra Lane and former faculty member Murray Fortner discuss their pasts.
Program helps students find support, guidance FOUSIA ABDULLAHI
campus editor fousia.abdullahi@my.tccd.edu
A district-wide mentoring program is available through the intercultural network. The program matches students and staff using a questionnaire so that students can find a mentor who will be most likely to address their needs based on their major and areas of interest. The mentoring program at NW has around 20 mentors matched with one mentee each. “This is an opportunity for students to get matched with faculty and staff across the campus,” Jasmine Quezada, coordinator of intercultural student engagement and academic success, said. “It is an opportunity for them to really engage and connect on campus.” The mentoring program has been beneficial to students who don’t have a built-in support system. NW student Leander D’ Costa came here as an international student from Mumbai, India, and was able to build a community through the intercultural Network and its mentoring program. “Being an international student, this is a whole new experience,” D’Costa said. The educational process will be different, the way of communication is very different, just getting situated and getting comfortable in education here. My advisor definitely helped me get assimilated with the education system. She helped me get to know people on campus that offer many supports for resources like the intercultural and student government.” Along with one-on-one mentoring, the program also hosts events, like luncheons, meet and greets and events with activities and prizes. For D’Costa TCC and the intercultural network has become a home away from home. “The intercultural Program is
Alex Hoben/The Collegian
NW students Leander D’Costa and Kennedie Watkins discuss their time in the program. They have been mentees for two years. now my home, and I really love it here at TCC and the intercultural program, and we’re like a family, we’re very supportive. We support everyone’s ideas. We’re inclusive space, and we’re an very open minded.”
This program gave me another piece of a support system
Kennedie Watkins NW student and mentee
“I would definitely recommend it for other students,” Eron Mills, NW student government association Vice President, said. “I think it also forces you to kind of get out of your comfort zone. It also opens you up to experiences and you get to see things from different perspectives rather than just you.” Other students find that they just need someone to listen to them
and check in on them. “This program gave me another piece of a support system,” said NW student Kennedie Watkins. “My mentors, as I have had two were both really caring and comforting. When things were hard, both would text me or email me or even if they saw me in person, take time to check on me.” Mentors are not only helpful during a student’s career at TCC, but they can also play a vital role in helping students reach their goals when they transfer or into their career path. “After I talked to my mentor and she kind of helped me figure out that sometimes you just got to do it,” Mills said. “You may not know what comes out of it at that second, but just do it. New college students may face many obstacles, but there are also many opportunities for growth. “I would recommend getting a mentor,” Watkins said. “I think specifically the people who sign up to be mentors and the people the intercultural network pick to be mentors are so helpful and supportive. I feel like it has made me realize that I will be okay if I believe in myself and rely on my support system.”
SOUTHEAST
‘The Glass Menagerie’ focuses on consequences of actions This theater production will detail the fictional life of a Depression era family struggling to survive growing pains HOPE SMITH
editor-in-chief hope.smith393@my.tccd.edu
Alex Hoben/The Collegian
NE students Haleigh Ferguson and Ethan Melendez play as Amanda and Tom Wingfield, a mother and son. Throughout the play their relationship is strained due to her expectations and his desires.
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Tennessee William’s 1930s era “The Glass Menagerie” is set to take the stage for SE Campus’ next theatre production. This memory play, which is a story narrated by the main character’s memories and reflects the author’s own experiences in life. SE student Ethan Melendez, acting as the main character Tom Wingfield, says it is a translation of the author’s family dynamics. “ I t ’s a v e r y s a d s t o r y, ” Melendez said. “Since it’s his life, it’s all based on his memory of what he experienced and what he saw in his point of view.” The story is set in the Great Depression, and the cast explains that it centers around a displaced family trying to scrape by. What makes the story interesting for the viewer might come from the main character’s struggles with his own individuality as a young man and the consequences of his own actions. Angela Inman, play director and associate professor of drama says the play will largely be
Popular opinions Challenging the “us versus them’ mentality Page 7
focused on Tom’s recollections. “It’s kind of a classic tale of anyone who is in their early 20s, who is just desperate to go out and live their own life,” she said. “And yet, they’re faced with the expectations of what their family thinks they should be.” The characters of this story conflict, specifically Tom and his mother Amanda, portrayed by SE student Haleigh Ferguson. Amanda is described as traditionally southern, with strong emotions but few dramatic qualities. “She has a very old school mind,” Ferguson said. “Because it’s hard, especially as a woman in the 1930s to get by without a man or finding ways to make money.” Melendez explained that the dynamic between Tom and Amanda highlight Tom’s struggle with wanting to be an individual and how their interactions drive home a theme for the story. “In Tom’s eyes he really takes her as a helicopter mom,” he said. “That alone does a lot just about how the dynamic works on everything and how much he’s just tired of her always on to him about things and always trying
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See Play, Page 2