September 20, 2023 TCC The Collegian

Counselors bring attention to silent crisis

HOPE SMITH editor-in-chief hope.smith393@my.tccd.edu

Imagine 1,100 pinwheels gently spinning in the breeze, each a quiet reminder of a life lost to suicide.

As the second leading cause of death among college students, the pinwheels represent the number of college student suicides yearly.

These pinwheels are planned for NW Campus as an impactful display, one of a few different efforts made by the other campuses during National Suicide Prevention Month.

TCC counselors are striving to understand the complex situation that students find themselves in, leading to thoughts of ideation.

“Many of our students don’t have access to quality health care and mental health counseling,” NW counselor Jamie Stroud said. “Sometimes they’re working two or three jobs as well as school, and they’re one person. Just one person.”

This topic is personal to Minor, who knew a student employee that committed suicide at a previous university he worked at. He says it is still something he struggles with today.

“It hits me pretty hard just thinking about that, and not knowing … what did I miss? Could I have done something to maybe prevent that?”

During the NW event, he wanted to ensure students know that mental health resources will be accessible next to the display.

“If a student is having thoughts of suicide, there are people here that can help, and if they would like to talk about it, we can get them connected to campus resources, as well as community resources.”

NE student Stella Swindle believes it is important to educate people on suicide prevention. She noticed in her personal life that suicide prevention is becoming more commonly talked about, as well, something she noted didn’t used to be so.

“It can be a triggering topic, but it’s not necessarily taboo to talk about,” she said.

SE Campus hosted their awareness event Sept. 12, and surveyed students on their understanding of campus resources.

The results showed that 60% of SE students who took the survey

were aware that TCC provides mental health counseling services free of charge. However, 26% of those who haven’t spoken with a counselor or other trusted professional responded by saying they think they can manage the issue themselves or with the help of family and friends. Thirteen percent said they were not ready to talk about it and another 13% said they didn’t know if therapy was right for them, or “other.”

SE Counselor Brandi Nichols, the organizer for the event, said she was speechless seeing the results that said 52% of students in the survey hadn’t spoken to a professional after 60% acknowledged the counseling resources available.

“It just kind of begs the question as to what are people’s thoughts related to counseling, and even the phrase, the stigma associated with it, and if they really have an already preconceived notion as to whether or not it’s helpful,” Nichols said.

She sees importance in dedicating time to suicide prevention and awareness, so much so that she is certified in QPR, a suicide prevention training.

“Anyone can help save someone’s life and they say, in general, if you ask someone If they were going to commit suicide or considering it, that question alone reduces the likelihood that they will,” she said.

Suicide deaths start from a young age as it is the second-leading cause of death for people 10-24 years old in Texas, according to American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Nichols acknowledged that young people are encountering new problems that pose troubles like cancel culture, social media and online culture.

“I just think there’s so many things going on, you think about socially, especially now, right?” she said. “Societal pressures, peer pressure, self esteem, hormonal changes, right? Your brain is not fully developed, so you’re not able to process your thoughts and emotions as effectively as you would once you’re older.”

In order for change to take place, she thinks people need to open the conversation to suicide prevention, and listen to people crying out for help.

“I think it’s normalizing counseling, it’s normalizing mental health issues, it’s normalizing prioritizing your mental health,” she said. “And it’s just being more than anything a good listener, because if we’re listening, people are telling us in coded language, right in their demeanor.”

“Anyone who had ever struggled with a mental illness would draw a semicolon on their wrist and post a photo. A semicolon symbolized that a sentence wasn’t over yet, and neither was their life.”

-Project

Semicolon

Finding access on campus

KEYLA HOLMES campus editor keyla.holmes@my.tccd.edu

Walking around NE Campus to get to class can be tiring. For those with accessibility challenges, temporary or long term, navigating campus can become a stressor.

“It’s so difficult going up the hill,” NE student Tori Hillard said. “I’m literally out of breath and sweating afterwards.” Hillard recently fractured a bone in her foot. She’s unable to walk and uses a scooter to rest her leg on. When it comes to getting to class, her injury poses a challenge.

“I’m very tired after needing to scooter from different places,” she said.

Kimberly Eason, NE director of Student Accessibility Resources, said that for students like Hillard, utilizing a golf cart isn’t an option. But parking closer to a building may be.

“We cannot transport students for liability reasons, but they may be able to get a temporary accessible parking placard from TxDOT,” she said. “That way they can park in accessible or handicap parking while they’re going through their recovery or surgery.”

It’s so difficult going up the hill, I’m literally out of breath and sweating afterwards.

Tori Hillard NE student

Eason said for some circumstances, though, SAR can get involved.

“The student needs to work with the instructor or talk to them first, and then they can do what they can to help the student,” she said. “Now if it’s something beyond the instructor’s control, like they broke their dominant arm or their dominant hand, and they need some assistance with taking notes, the instructor can reach out to us and SAR will help provide some services.”

Eason said there is a difference between those experiencing a temporary accessibility challenge and those who protected under the Americans with Dispairment is considered something that See Access, page 2

DISTRICT

IT systems announce multi-factor identification for students

HOPE SMITH editor-in-chief hope.smith393@my.tccd.edu

Following the transition to Microsoft, TCC students can expect a newly implemented security feature to their sign-in process. This feature: multi-factor identification.

Effective Oct. 13, the decision follows the The Gramm Leach Bliley Act asking education institutions that get federal funding to have an extra sign-in step.

Multi-factor identification requires the individual signing into something to get past two or more security sign-ins.

“It’s basically to protect the students,” Martin Patrick, director of administrative systems for TCC, said.

The current exceptions to this are the early collegiate high school and dual credit students. This is due to accommodating the

specific phone-use policies each high school has for their students.

Because of this, the IT systems team is working with the deadline set out by the The Gramm Leach Bliley Act to get as many students under the two-factor umbrella as they can from the start.

“This buys us some time to develop another solution, because we want every student to have the extra layer of security no matter what,” Patrick said. “Because it’s like I said, there’s 105 high schools that feed into us, and a lot of them have different and unique policies about [phones], that we have to try to come up with answers that allow them to stay within their policies and still provide them the security they need.”

Starting off, students will not have the choice to pick their second-step identification and will instead be required to use their phone number for SMS verification.

System Administrator Pamela Petro ex-

plained this would be the easiest form of authentication for students, but this may change in the next year.

To accommodate students who may not have access to cellphones, Petro said that the 24/7 tech support line will provide temporary access passes to students.

Along with this, she said there is a plan to implement phones in TCC libraries that direct a call to the support line.

“The libraries, they’re looking forward to it because they answer a lot of questions for students,” she said. “And this will give them some place they can direct the students to.”

The only stipulation to these passes are their shelf life of 30 days. Afterwards, they must be renewed again. But, Patrick affirmed that the process was easy. After the user inputs their password, they will be prompted for the temporary access pass.

Requesting a pass is immediate as well,

and does not require time in-between to get one.

Logging into TCC supplied applications will prompt students with multi-factor identification, like signing into Microsoft 365. Students using workstations will not be prompted, however.

NE student Enzo Mortimer uses multifactor identification in his own life. He explains that he implements it for his most important sign-ins for security.

He is most familiar with SMS verification, and believes it’s the easiest form to use.

He says that moving towards more security for TCC accounts is a good idea, and that students should stay educated on keeping their accounts secure.

“I think it’s just good to know the possibility of if anything happened, and ways to be able to secure your accounts,” he said. “Especially if it has, like all of your information for school in it.”

Ways a student can use their TCC degree

SE Campus career advisor encourages looking into career paths

if there is an interest and to be able to provide that information to them before they see an academic advisor. That way they are already alert, they can go in with questions, they are a little more prepared as to what it is to what they are going in for and a little more excited to set their

After earning his associates degree, SE student Blake Bailey intends on transferring to the University of Texas at Arlington to get

“I have always wanted to go to college to pursue a higher education just because it opens up more op-

FOR $ 0 FROM THE LIBRARY TO THE LIONS

portunities,” Bailey said. “I know you can still do a lot with a high school diploma. I’ve seen it. But it just opens that door.”

According to Texas Comptroller, 46% of students that pursue higher education went to community college. Bailey hoped more students would consider TCC first.

“I hope so because this is honestly a great experience,” Bailey said. “It’s not what I thought it would be at all. The education here is great and if I could, I would probably just go here all four years to get my bachelors degree.”

Access

lasts six months or less.

(continued from page 1)

For students who have challenges that are permanent or chronic, Eason said they need to contact the SAR office.

“In high schools or public schools, it’s the school’s responsibility to identify students who may have some kind of disorder or condition where they need assistance,” she said. “In college, it’s the student’s responsibility to self identify. We can advertise and try to reduce the stigma by encouraging faculty to refer students, but it still has to be the student’s option.”

For more information regarding these resources, students should visit SAR’s webpage for more in-depth guidance.

Hillard said she’s thankful her instructors have been supportive.

“They have been very kind to me and have helped me with anything I need,” she said.

For students who may feel nervous

about getting around due to an accessibility challenge, NE student Daphne Garcia suggested using a rolling backpack.

“I feel like that would be helpful for carrying your books,” she said.

Garcia mainly stays in one building for all of her classes. For those who have to walk to different buildings, she said knowing where everything is can be advantageous.

“Carrying a map and trying out different routes could also be helpful,” she said.

Eason said it’s all about having a plan.

“If they’re feeling nervous or uncomfortable, we’ll be glad to sit down with them and talk about a plan that they can have for themselves,” she said. “Let them know where the elevators are, and if they have a friend who’s willing to help carry their stuff, that could be helpful.”

South student Jose Ascencio takes a sander to the body of a car during his refinishing class.

South student Michael Noye wraps wires connected to various power tools during class.

Alex Hoben/The Collegian

One of the many ADA door buttons around NE Campus. The buttons are there to ensure those with disabilities can open doors without issue.

Privilege should always be acknowledged

Expensive gowns, tiaras and balls are foreign concepts to the average Joe. Your closest experience to a taste of opulence and pagaentry was probably prom. So when TikToker Lara Cosima made a “get ready with me” to attend a ball in Spain in an expensive gown and tiara perched atop her head, you can imagine the varied reactions.

Throughout the video, Cosima talked through her routine with the same energy of someone getting ready to go to the grocery store. To her, this was not a once-in-a-lifetime experience — just a mundane day in her life.

Some viewers commented on the post gushing about how they wish they would live her life. Some took the investigative approach and took a deep dive into how this lifestyle could be possible.

The answer: blood money.

Cosima’s full name is Lara Cosima Henckel von Donnersmarck. She is a member of the House of Henckel von Donnersmarck, a noble Prussian family, who allegedly helped fund the invasion of Poland during World War II and supposedly had ties to the Nazi party.

Suddenly, the comments turned from how lucky she is to how could she. Cosima issued an apology and explanation, claiming that her family lost all their money and they had to rebuild themselves following the war.

People immediately came to her defense, saying that it wasn’t her fault that she was born into a life of privilege and that she couldn’t control what her ancestors did.

VIEWPOINTS

However, the issue isn’t that she happened to be born into an aristocratic family. The issue is the inevitable successes and privileges she has gained without acknowledging the exploitation and death that afforded her said opportunities.

Her TikTok account is now private. But, this isn’t unique to nepo babies. You too can pull yourself up by the bootstraps while simultaneously loosening everyone else’s. Beyoncé did it.

In a 2021 campaign with Tiffany

& Co., Beyoncé wore a 128.54 carat yellow diamond necklace. Upon further digging, it was revealed to be a blood diamond.

After the fact, Beyoncé claimed that she wasn’t aware of the diamond’s history. Her mother Tina Knowles came to her defense saying

“How many of you socially conscious activists own diamonds? Did you check to see where the diamond came from? Probably not!”

The everyday person shopping at Kay Jewelers probably doesn’t know how many carats the diamond they just bought is, much less if it was ethically sourced. While it doesn’t excuse it, shopping sustainably isn’t always accessible or affordable. But this is Beyoncé. A few phone calls and most anything is accessible to her.

What is perhaps most troubling is hypocrisy of the situation. There’s even a hefty section on her Wikipedia page about her philanthropy. For 1,166 words dedicated to her history with philanthropy, she should’ve been cognizant in the first place to be aware of what she is collaborating with. But that’s the power of privilege.

The ability to not have to think about how your actions, intentional or not, can affect others. But, like gaslighting or virtue-signaling, it’s become a buzzword. People have probably already tuned you out by the time you’re one syllable in.

Admitting you’ve been given a headstart in life or you should’ve actually done your due diligence is important to encourage accountability and have conversations about how to empower the unprivileged.

Intersectionality exists. You can hold and not hold privilege simultaneously. Examining how they interact with one another is necessary for equity and a world where you don’t get ratioed in your comment section.

usually preceded with smart, beautiful or wealthy. We’re broke. Google “broke college student” and be slapped in the face with “struggle recipes” or “adulting guides” from millennials that watch Buzzfeed or Quora articles, presumably from a boomer, that queries why college students are broke.

Times are changing. Cokes don’t have coke, and tuition isn’t a nickel and a blade of grass. It’s starting to look like the only time I will own a house will be in the Sims

4.

My therapist always reminds me that I’m young and it’s okay to be selfish. Her application of the word isn’t an encouragement to be mean-spirited to others, but to stop wasting my time on relationships, activities or habits that don’t serve me.

When I told my mom this, she agreed wholeheartedly — being that she was an eyewitness to my incessant people pleasing proclivities. She nodded her head and added, “after all, time is money.”

My mom is a tax advisor which has heightened the already present toxic relationship most parents have with money. Please tell me another third grader who knew what IRS stood for. The importance of money was stressed so heavily that she made my little brother and I do a stock market simulator when we were eight and six.

For me and so many others, money is why we are at community college. No shame in the game. This is not a hard-hitting editorial on the elitism behind university. I’ve made my peace and anyone who has a problem with you going the financially route should for yourself should rethink their sense of entitlement.

In general, “college student” is not

However, I hold the privilege that my parents have allowed me to live rent free while I go to school from home with the caveat of good grades and holding a job. Without divulging my routing numbers, I feel fortunate to have had this opportunity. Whereas I know if I went to university right away, I probably wouldn’t have had time to hold a job, much less two.

Many of my peers that went to university straight after high school weren’t able to hold jobs due to the rigorous demands or adjusting to a large lifestyle change, which is completely understandable.

At the end of the day, whatever path you take, make sure it’s the best for you. Even if that means incurring thousands of dollars in debt or graduating debt free. People have done them both for years and survived, and they’ll continue to do so. I’m sure one group is able to comfortably spring for extra guac though.

For the off chance that someone incredibly wealthy is reading this, feel free to Venmo me. I take CashApp or Zelle too, whatever is preferable.

The Collegian is a weekly student publication serving the Tarrant County College District. Editorial statements and advertisements do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the TCC administration.

Letters to the paper should be 150 words or less, free from libel and poor taste and include the writer’s Colleague ID or telephone number (the numbers will not be published). Letters may be brought to The Collegian office (NCAB 1124A, NE

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Hope

Smith

MANAGING EDITOR Nina Banks PHOTO/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

OLLA MOKHTAR campus editor olla.mokhtar@my.tccd.edu

I’m very visibly Muslim, I know, but why are you staring at me?

Are you blaming me for something that happened before I was born, for something I didn’t do?

Recently, a friend of mine asked me to define privilege in my own words, and I responded by saying that it’s the ability to do anything — in this context, leave the house on 9/11 — and not think about it.

Remembering 9/11 was more than just commemorating those who died. For me, it drudged up unwanted memories from watching 9/11 documentaries in high school.

To be absolutely clear, of course I am devastated about what happened that day, but I can also be uncomfortable with the way my classmates stared at me every time one of the documentaries was put on for us to watch.

Those two feelings are not mutually exclusive.

They aren’t opposing thoughts that I can’t have.

They are simply my truth. One that is an unfortunate and vile reality as someone who wears a hijab, essentially wearing a large banner that is her religion.

For a quick backstory, I was born in Texas, but from ages 7 through 14, I lived in Sudan, my country of origin. I returned just in time for freshman year expecting

Campus),or mailed to:

The Collegian 828 Harwood Road Hurst, TX 76054 Office: 817-515-6391 email: collegian.editor@tccd.edu

culture shock, confusing grading standards and difficulty making friends, all of which I experienced.

What I didn’t expect was for people to stare at me to the point that I felt they were saying I was “un-American,” that I wasn’t like them.

And for a country that prides itself on its diversity, that sure was hypocritical.

By now, most people know that the actions carried out by those terrorists have nothing to do with Islam. But not everybody thinks that way.

Of course, this is wrong, but what is a 14-year-old supposed to do when 20 kids start staring at her because of what those people did?

Retaliate? Absolutely not. Bigoted people would just think I was a terrorist too.

Act like you can’t see them and continue watching? You guessed right.

Every year, I hope to God 9/11 doesn’t fall on a weekday so that I can hide during the weekend without the possibility of getting hate-crimed. I’m also upset because terrorists come from different religions and races, but the religion that gets brunt of it is Islam. And the only races that it affects are Black and brown people, nevermind that the person may not be Muslim. If you “look the part” in real life, you are the part.

I decided it was because people didn’t want to look internally and say, “Yeah, every community has its bad apples,” and instead say anyone that was a terrorist and happened to be white just had “mental health issues.”

I may know these things and another reader may as well, but I’m tired of the talking portion of the acknowledgement plan.

When am I and other Black and brown people going to be given the ability to live with nuance to our identities? Because prejudice is not inert but taught.

TCC is an equal opportunity institution that provides educational and employment opportunities on the basis of merit and without discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status or disability.

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College students have an odd relationship with money

I didn’t participate in 9/11, stop looking at me like I did

NINA BANKS Managing editor nina.banks@my.tccd.edu

This film friendship is sweeter than cake

An awesome tribute to a friend showcasing entrepreneurial spirit

KEYLA HOLMES campus editor keyla.holmes@my.tccd.edu

Funny, beautiful and heart-wrenching, “Sitting in Bars with Cakes” is based on a true story about two best friends navigating their early 20’s in L.A., going to bars and handing out cake.

Yara Shahidi plays Jane, a shy mailroom assistant, who struggles to venture outside of her comfort zone. She prioritizes studying for the LSAT in hopes to get accepted into law school. When she’s not studying, she lays out her kitchen supplies and bakes away.

Odessa A’zion plays Corinne, Jane’s roommate and childhood best friend. In many ways Corinne is portrayed as Jane’s opposite.

Extroverted and always seeking out a fun time, getting out of her comfort zone is simply what makes life worth living. When she’s not partying, she works as an assistant to a music industry agent.

To help Jane meet guys and get out of her shell, Corinne suggests that she takes her cakes out of the kitchen of their apartment and to different bars around L.A.

Friendship is central to the story. Viewers will be shown how two best friends compliment one another, and push each other to be better versions of themselves. However, drastic character development occurs more so for Jane.

Pivotal to the story, Corinne is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. As Corinne navigates her illness, scenes of her encouraging Jane to play a more active role in her own life allow the audience to see how important it is to take up space.

As it turns out, Jane doesn’t actually want to go to law school.

Her passion is baking and thanks to her best friend, by the end of the movie Jane gains the confidence to do something she loves instead of just considering what she

ALBUM REVIEW

thinks will make her parents happy.

The story is filled with ups and downs.

Moments of laughter and tears, the film also depicts the difficulty Corinne experienced as her symptoms worsened. She had to stop “cakebarring”, a term she came up with for their adventures around L.A. As she became tired and started to experience more pain, the vibrant, energy filled person we were intro-

duced to at the beginning of the movie, starts to fade. Jane becomes her primary caregiver and does everything she can to alleviate Corinne’s agony. Odessa A’zion does an amazing job at showing Corinne’s resilience and attempts to make light of the situation. Through her amazing acting it’s difficult to not empathize with her character. Young and full of life, her

illness is now a focal point in her life.

The bond between the characters is touching. Their love is beautiful and I think the movie acts as a nice tribute for Audrey Shulmans, the screenplay author’s best friend.

Rodrigo’s pop-punk returns with intensity

HOPE SMITH editor-in-chief hope.smith393@my.tccd.edu

Olivia Rodrigo’s newly released “GUTS” album takes on her pop punk album blend after the “SOUR” album released in 2021. Two years after the fact, she seemed to nail the curated album on the head.

After “SOUR”, Rodrigo had a lot to live up to. The bar she raised for her first album won a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album in 2022, and she was named Best New Artist. However, she followed a similar release style from her first album by preceding “GUTS” with single “vampire” and it worked, making it No. 1 on her most popular Spotify songs.

“GUTS” itself was unexpected as it was unknown what Rodrigo would have in store. “vampire” made it seem like it was going to be a slow angst vibe, but should have known better at the hammered out bridge towards the end. I continued to be surprised by the rest of the album.

At first listen, the thought was the album would absolutely take on slow angst, but just as soon as the thought came it passed at the chorus of the first song.

The electric guitar cued and just like that, there she was. Rodrigo has done this twice now, starting with a misleading song to kick off the rest of the album, think “brutal”.

Followed by “bad idea, right?”It stayed the punk course and “vampire” hit the home run for Rodrigo’s startup, a solid foundation for the rest of the album.

When “lacy” played, there was a little confusion at first.

The album had been going so intense with the previous three songs and “lacy” was very much a slow ballad.

Honestly, though, it was a good break to precede “ballad of a homeschooled girl” and after re-listening to the album, I understood what was going on.

The thing is, Rodrigo treats her albums like a diary.

They are very honest, and for that reason it relates to a lot of people which is why it’s so successful. Honesty typically garners respect.

I enjoyed that fact, because most of the songs in “GUTS” talked about feelings of

being someone else, making questionable decisions, comparing and acknowledging parts of oneself that really only get talked about in someone’s most personal places of thought, like a diary.

She does it in a way that isn’t self-deprecating and woeful, however, and the punk element gives it a matter-of-fact tone that accepts her humanity as it is.

The variety of each song thus made more sense.

So, as each song was playing it was clear tha her new album had taken a slightly different turn than her last, though they reflected each other.

This time, there was more introspection and a little more chaos to pair it with.

And honestly, the chaos was fun too. The turn “GUTS” took from “SOUR” was interesting because before she seemed to focus on one person in particular and there was a sense of loss and heartache that came with the first album.

The second album took that loss and heartache by the horns.

Still in a romantic tossup with “bad idea, right?” and “get him back!” it seems Rodrigo is at a point where she’s navigating the chaos of the dating world with more intensity.

In all, it took a re-listen to understand “GUTS” but it was worth the extra time. I’m a fan of music that highlights an artist’s life experience because the listener is allowed a view into their world. There was a lot of parallel between her first and newest album, but it’s expected as she’s only started out.

Rodrigo has come a long way since Disney, and I look forward to seeing what she comes up with next.

Photo Courtesy of Amazon Prime Video

Yara Shahidi and Odessa A’zion star opposite of each other in “Sitting in Bars with Cakes.” The movie premiered on Prime Video on Sept. 8.

Photo Courtesy of Universal Music Group Rodrigo’s sophomore album released Sept. 8. The album features influences of rock, representing the transition to adulthood.