Second-year student Zora Williams is using her voice to bring more mental health and nutrition programming to San Diego Mesa College. Williams was elected president of the college’s Associated Students (AS) for the 2024-2025 academic year and serves as the college’s student representative on the San Diego Community College District Board of Trustees.
Sometimes, you hear a story that makes you want to know more. Kevin Gonzalez has such a story. The last time this story was updated, San Diego Mesa College student Kevin Gonzalez was a 15 year-old heading off to Massachusetts to complete his high school education. In the ensuing years, he has travelled to the other side of the world, built houses, but remained in close contact with his Mesa College professors and connections he made while on campus.
The San Diego Community College District has appointed four new student trustees for the upcoming academic year. Dalia Ramirez (San Diego City College), Zora Williams (San Diego Mesa College), Hailey Hua (San Diego Miramar College), and Haydee Zuniga (San Diego College of Continuing Education), will be sworn in during the June 20 SDCCD Board of Trustees meeting.
June 12, 2017
Communication Studies major Brittani Kaigler from San Diego Mesa College will be transferring to Temple University for the Fall 2017 semester to pursue her Bachelor’s Degree after graduating with her Associates Degree last month.
“I am excited for new beginnings, and I am the first person in my family to ever go to college out of all of my siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles, so I am very happy to hopefully end the cycle of not going to college,” Kaigler said.
Born and raised in San Diego, she chose Mesa originally to study Fashion before changing her major to Communication Studies. Kaigler decided to transfer to Temple to be closer to her father on the east coast and to experience a new region of the country.
“Surprisingly, I am a very shy person, but I am the kind of person where I like to put myself out of their comfort zone because I feel like when I do that, I tend to even surprise myself and do very well,” Kaigler said. “I think that you grow a lot when you push yourself and put yourself outside of your comfort zone.”
In addition to walking in the Class of 2017 Commencement Ceremony on May 20, she also participated in the Rites of Passage Ceremony on May 17 for African American students.
“As a woman of color, and getting to this milestone when I honestly never thought that I could do it, the Rites of Passage Ceremony represents celebrating a large accomplishment for me and others,” Kaigler said. “I am setting an example for my family and other students who might feel like me one day, and it’s good to celebrate that for yourself.”
Kaigler has a GPA of 3.4 and received a scholarship from Temple for $1,500 per semester. She said that attending Mesa has helped her both as a student as well as holistically since she worked as a Student Ambassador.
“I think that I definitely have been pushed, in a good way, both personally and academically – and since I work here at Mesa I have also been pushed professionally,” Kaigler said. “I feel like when I first came here, I didn’t really know what I was doing, but as I moved along, just getting to know my professors has really made me an excellent student. While working here, Outreach staff members Genevieve Esguerra and Karla Trutna encouraged me as well.”
Outreach Student Ambassadors represent the school by promoting Mesa College. Through the Outreach Program, the ambassadors work as peer mentors for high school students and community members to teach them about financial aid options, higher education and more.
For more information about the Student Ambassador program at San Diego Mesa College call (619) 388-2230.
Tags: Graduation, Transfer, Student Ambassadors, Communication Studies, Outreach
Jennifer Nichols Kearns
Director of Communications
jnkearns@sdccd.edu
(619) 388-2759
San Diego, CA ---- On Saturday, March 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., Mesa College will host “Jumpstart Your Success.” Jumpstart is a FREE community event for prospective Mesa College students of all ages. Students and their families can learn about Mesa College programs and services, including the San Diego Promise, which offers free tuition to eligible students. Families can learn more and should RSVP at www.sdmesa.edu/Jumpstart.
Andrew reflects on how his journey was not always smooth sailing, but how it was necessary in transforming him into the person he is today.
The Olympian Speech and Debate team is living up to its reputation as a competitive, award-winning force. After competing in four tournaments during the fall, and a fifth this semester, the Mesa Speech and Debate Team has racked up numerous titles and awards. They have been working hard and achieving success at competitions across the nation, including in New York, where Mesa students Franklin McKenzie and Katya Azzam garnered a well-earned parliamentary debate win against Ivy League Cornell University’s team (see below for a full list of achievements).
