Finding community at community college

Los Angeles Pierce College
Credit: Delilah Brumer / EdSource

When I decided to enroll in community college, I saw the experience only as an avenue to attend a local four-year university. Due in part to the stigma surrounding two-year colleges, I went in with the mindset that I would just get through my time there; the possibility of enjoying it seemed unlikely and unimportant. 

What I’ve found is completely different from those expectations. As a student at Los Angeles Pierce College, I’ve discovered a supportive network of peers, professors and counselors, as well as an environment of accessibility and excitement for learning. 

Having transferred from Northwestern University to Pierce, my views on college have been informed by two very different worlds — a private university known for academic rigor and Division I athletics, and a commuter college defined by a range of student ages, backgrounds and goals. With this perspective, I’ve realized that not only is the community college experience a real college experience, but for some students, it can be better than what they might have at a four-year university.

At Pierce, I feel at home in part because the college actually reflects the demographics and culture of my home city. I feel more welcome and engaged in places that are as economically, racially and ideologically diverse as Los Angeles. My community college isn’t removed from the city around it. Instead, it is intertwined with the experiences and identities that make L.A. unique.

On the academic side of things, community colleges provide the flexibility that is ideal for many students, without sacrificing quality of education. It has been incredibly encouraging to take my more challenging classes not in intimidating lecture halls, but in classrooms of 25 students with professors who are happy to discuss their course materials, research and education journeys. 

From writing about the Pierce Brahmas baseball team with my fellow student journalists for the weekly school newspaper to learning about Kepler’s laws in a small, interactive astronomy lab, I’ve developed a community at Pierce, even though I’ve only been here for three months. 

As my peers have told me, my experience is not an anomaly. 

For Juliette Hagobian, a first-year student at Pierce, community college has offered time to reflect on her career goals and further develop her hobbies. She’s found friends and mentors in the English department and restarted the school’s poetry club.

“The essence of [community college] is that opportunity for us to collaborate and have conversations and understand different perspectives,” Hagobian said. “The most important thing to me, personally, is that sort of connection and finding my people. And I’m finding myself, too.”

Hagobian shared my uneasiness about community college when she first enrolled, coming from an Armenian private high school where going to a community college was seen in a negative light. She said that being here has changed her mind, and that although she’s looking forward to transferring to a four-year university, she’s enjoying the present moment as well. 

“In my community, it’s seen as a less-desired option or a last resort,” Hagobian said. “Now that I’m here, I see all kinds of cool opportunities and student drive.”

Another student at Pierce, psychology major Gayane Zazyan, is not only finding opportunities in community college, but paying them forward. As student government president, she works to support other students’ success. 

“I think one of the things that made me feel comfortable and got me where I am was that I was open-minded to utilizing [Pierce’s] programs,” Zazyan said. “College isn’t easy and I try to spread the information to my peers as well, because there are so many amazing resources here.”

One of those peers is Zazyan’s mother. 

“She started with ESL [English as a second language], just one class at a time,” Zazyan said. “I feel proud of her, and my parents are proud of me that I’ve been able to go this far.”

Zazyan is graduating from Pierce this spring and said she credits community college for putting her on the path she is now on. 

Far removed from inaccessible classes and one-size-fits-all learning options, community colleges meet students where they are, serving nearly 2 million in California alone.

“There’s a reason we call them community colleges,” said Susanna Cooper, the executive director of the Wheelhouse Center for Community College Leadership and Research at UC Davis. “They create community and they’re accessible. I think it’s a hallmark of community colleges, all that they do to help their students succeed.”

It’s time we rethink how community college is viewed, both on an academic and social level — no stigma attached. 

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Delilah Brumer is a sophomore at Los Angeles Pierce College majoring in journalism and political science and a member of EdSource’s California Student Journalism Corps.

The opinions in this commentary are those of the author. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.

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