Working on campus

Hi everyone,

It's been a while since I last posted, but end of the semester, holidays, and the beginning of a new semester took its toll on me. :) Nevertheless, I want to talk to you guys about employment on campus. What? You didn't know it was possible? Oh yes, it is!!

To be a student worker on campus you must qualify.  In your first semester, you must provide a successful midterm report to the International Office in order to request on-campus employment. If you have already completed your first semester, just stop by at the International Office and request a letter to show you are ready to work as an international student.  You bring the letter to the Career Center to learn which campus departements are hiring. 

Student workers are allowed to work no more than 19hrs / week during school session, and no more than 40hrs/week on school breaks. You must maintain your F-1 status and a valid I-20.

I started working on-campus during my second semester, and [un]fortunately this will be my last one since I'm graduating in May. The International Office was searching for bloggers, and I had an interview with the director and woot woot!! I got the job! :) Since then I have had the chance to interact with faculty and staff, and my networking started to develop. I ended up applying for a second job on campus, still at the International Office, as a student worker helping with administrative processes and helping international students with documentation, walking them to where their classes are, and so on. Working on campus has given me a great insight on how school is behind all the books and classes. I've had a chance to see how all the processes work from the moment a student apply to the moment he/she arrives on campus for their orientation day, and I have to tell you it is an amazing feeling to help them step by step during the process. It's rewarding!

I truly recommend on-campus employment to all my friends, and to all of you perspective students as well! It's a great opportunity to learn work ethics in the United States, an even greater opportunity for networking (trust me, this is extremely important for your career), and it's also a good way to make that extra money.

I hope I shed some light in this process. If you're more interested, or if you would like to ask me some questions, feel free to drop me a line!

Active shooter feedback

As I had promised, here's the post on how the active shooter training went.

Let me start by letting you know that students were notified by phone (text messages and phone calls) and via email about the training, but even though we were all aware of it - at least the majority of students were - it didn't change the fact that it was still an intense training! 

The common area between 3500 and 3600 buildings was blocked for the training. The first scenario was how Campus Police should approach a suspect who was carrying guns in a backpack. Here's my attempt to capture the moment:

Then, Campus Police moved on to the next scenario: the gunman shot students outside the classroom and then ran inside the classroom. Trust me, this was the most intense part. Students from the Theater Department volunteered to play the wounded - and dead - students, and they had some amazing makeup on. What you're about to see is FAKE blood! Campus Police used air soft guns, so no real bullets were used and no one got injured. Students had an important role on pretending to be hurt, it really gave Campus Police - and us, spectators - a feeling of reality. Here are some pictures of how it went:

Although the training was mainly for Campus Police, students had a chance to glimpse into what was going on, and students in the classrooms had a little training on what to do in case a shooter is at school.

I hope you guys don't get scared by those pictures, and if you want more information about what happened, drop me a line!!!

Campus safety

Did you know that MiraCosta Campus Police train to keep students safe.  On September 29, MiraCosta Campus Police will be conducting a drill in case of an emergency.  Due to unfortunate shootings that took place at other schools around the country, MiraCosta is being proactive by providing students with this training, so we can all know what to do if – knock on wood – a shooting happens.

As an international student myself, I think it’s important to be part of this particular drill since my country only had 1 school shooting in its history. I personally don’t know what to expect and how to act if I find myself in this situation, so being able to participate on this drill will definitely give me some insight about what goes on.

I’m so oblivious to these situations that I found myself in a very uncomfortable moment during one of my classes. I had to do a presentation on Che Guevara and my opening slide had gun shots sounds as part of it. As I was setting the presentation up, I accidentally had the first slide come on before I could introduce my topic. Unfortunately, the sound system was already on and loud, so gun shots sounds echoed in the classroom startling students, having some of them duck their heads whereas others were screaming. I apologized and turned off the sound, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what had just happened… I’ve learned my lesson about gun shots sounds in the classroom, but now I want to know what to do if I ever – hopefully never – find myself in this kind of situation.

I will definitely write another post about how the drill goes. Meanwhile, you guys can check a video that MiraCosta Campus Police released on surviving an active shooting:

MiraCosta is up to date!

Here at MiraCosta everyone is up to date to current events. Although we all are concerned about the horrible drought that is affecting California, we still manage to have some fun!

Take a look at our Interim Superintendent / President Dr. Richard Robertson take the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge:

Welcome back!

Welcome!!

Hello everyone!! Welcome to my blog on this amazing new interface!

I'm Mari, a sophomore international student at MiraCosta College. Sophomore? What's that? Let me clarify it for you.

Here in the United States students are called by "names" based on how long they've been at school. It goes like this:

• 1st year: freshman;
• 2nd year: sophomore;
• 3rd year: junior;
• 4th year: senior.

I'm at the end of my sophomore year and I'm going to start my application for transfer. I have a few University in mind and some of them are CSUSM, SDSU, and Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)

I'm writing this post from the MiraCosta Library who looks like this:

If you like what you see, stay for a while and check the other posts, or just drop me a line and I'll get back to you as soon as possible!

World Cultures Day 2014

The fountain area yesterday was a mix of over 30 different cultures as MiraCosta College hosted the World Cultures Day, an event presented by MiraCosta College Intercultural Communication class, student clubs, and international students.

Thanks to the efforts put up by students involved in the event, fellow students as well staff could explore cultural artifacts, ethnic costumes, photos, and authentic snacks from all over the world while visiting the tables designated to each country.

Along with the tables, students enjoyed a music performance by the San Diego Persian Culture Center, as well as Polynesian and hip hop dance performances by MiraCosta College students.

The event was a great opportunity for students to interact and learn about new cultures, what do they do, how do they operate, what do they eat, etc. The event was a success and everyone had a wonderful time!!

How does American Higher Education works?

American higher education (bachelor’s degree, Master’s, and Ph.D.) works in a very different way than in Brazil. Here in the United States everyone has to take some general education classes, elective classes, and major classes. "What are they”?, you ask me.

MiraCosta College is a Community College, the first step to your Undergraduate Education. Here you take your general education, elective, and probably a few of your major classes. Once all of that is complete, you receive your Associate Degree. It’s important to keep in mind that the classes you take at a Community College are exactly the same you’d take at a 4-year University. “So why go to a Community College then?”, you ask, and I tell you why: 4-year Universities don’t offer Associate Degrees, and are more expensive than a Community College.

After you finish Community College, you take your second step and transfer to a 4-year University. At those universities you will only be taking your major classes. After 2 more years, you’ll get your Bachelor’s Degree.

Once you receive your Bachelor’s Degree, you’ve completed your Undergraduate Education. If you want to specialize even more, you’d go for your Graduate Education, meaning your Master’s and Ph.D. As you can see based on what I told you in previous paragraphs, MiraCosta College doesn’t offer any kind of Graduate Education.

Going to school and getting a degree is a very important decision, so make sure you study all your options before making your final decision to choose which school is the best for you.