My Personal Experience at Sacramento City College

After graduating from high school, I did not know what to do. Friends and family had asked me and I did not really know what to say. I realized the only jobs I could get around town pay next to nothing. As I read through the local paper, I saw all these help wanted ads asking for people with some specific type of degree, and then I had my enlightenment. I wanted to go to college. I had realized I could get more out of life if I go to college.

My experiences at the college, as I find them, have not excited me, but have frustrated me. I can honestly say I do not want to attend Sac City anymore, but I continue through perseverance. Instead of listing off an entire page of all the things I do not like about Sacramento City College, I will speak of just one instance, which I will remember forever. The instance and my argument regards to the lack of information the college provides its students. Not just in general, but primarily the lack of information students receive about courses, degrees, and transfers. The counter argument would say the college provides its students with sufficient information.

The college provides inadequate and improper information to the people whom attend the school. Of all the places to go for information including the counseling office, the official Sac City web site, teachers, or even the dean, students struggle to obtain useful information to assist them along their college journeys. Lack of information has taken consequential effects on me. Because of misinformation, I will need an extra year, and knowing how things go between the school and me, I just feel an additional year will get tacked on and on again. Every individual, whether fresh out of high school, or never finished high school, should know in advance about how things work here. Every student should receive information from the college about the classes he may take, or the degrees offered, and also information about transfers. When I originally enrolled here, I found myself just taking any old classes and no one would tell me anything or question my awareness of how things function around here. I know one must complete certain required courses to graduate that I still do not feel certain upon because I have yet to receive proper information.

Complaining, or talking to the dean never helps and trying to change the way things work never helps either. The college can make any claim about providing students with proper information, but they do not. For example, the catalog provides students with unclear information about degrees, courses, and transferring. Also, the college has counselors who literally do not know how to perform their jobs, nor know what they tell students. I have seen three different counselors, including the so-called head counselor, and none have provided me with proper information about my schedule or transferring. Every time I go to see a counselor, I sit down with a counselor and tell them about what college I want to transfer to. Of course they never know what to do to get you wherever you want to go. They walk over to the bookshelf and pull off some year old book and start reading through the book. They make a schedule on the spot for me, without truly knowing if the schedule will get me to where I want to go.

The schedules do provide some information, and not very clearly, but a small amount of information about transfer plans and about getting your Associate degree from the college. The schedule does provide a listing of phone numbers. I have never found these numbers useful in any situation for my search of information.

The misinformation does not solely pertain to transfers, but also other things. For instance, when a class becomes cancelled, no one ever receives notification in advance. Or if a teacher never shows up for the scheduled day, the students find themselves left wondering what to do, not certain if they can leave or not. The college should develop some type of system for notification of a class cancellation. I suggest every student should receive a pager upon enrollment, and when a class gets canceled, simply every student of the class receives notification via the pager. Students would appreciate the notification and they would not always have to make a trip to the college solely to find out they came for nothing, especially when students have to constantly work, live far away, or address family obligations.

We as students never get appropriately informed about the college. We wander through the college, not truly knowing what we need to do. We act as though we follow the right path to success, but without reassurance. The college should provide vital information such as transfers, degrees, courses and policies in some type of packet. A packet of which thoroughly explains in great depth what the students need to accomplish to transfer, or obtain a degree. Each student should get a packet every time they enroll in courses. I understand the college functions like a business trying to profit, thus, some may argue, "why should they care?" From a business standpoint, caring would generate more money because students would want to attend Sac City when the college has such a reputation. Experts should replace all of the current counselors. Replacing the counselors would certainly help show the college cares about the students who seek counseling. The counselors should have prior training about Sacramento City's policy on transferring and on general information provided to students. Although costly, each student should acquire a certain counselor, like my high school did. Ever so often your counselor should call their designated students in for a check up to insure the student stays on the correct path to success.

Even though many students successfully complete courses and obtain degrees from Sac City, still, many other students do not. We as students cannot afford such hardships as taking more years of college than originally anticipated simply because the school provides inadequate information. Some students, like myself, almost get to the point of dropping out because of the situation at Sac City. I represent just one student of many here, and I know of others in Sac City who have not received such an opportunity, as I have to express my feelings about the subject. I know other people feel the same way as I do because I recently spoke with one of my teachers, and she too feels the same.