Author:pablo

Majors You May Have Overlooked at Taft College

Kaylynn Clark

Sure, Taft College has a wonderful Dental Hygiene Program as well as some great programs for the oil industry. Though these a very popular majors to be interested in, there are also some other great career possibilities that Taft College offers through different majors.

1. Early Childhood Development- Taft College has many classes that would definitely benefit you if you love kids! From storytelling to puppet making, Early Childhood Development is a great major if you love to nurture.

2. Criminal Justice- If you love to work hands-on in a fast paced environment, this may be the perfect fit. Taft College students may take a variety of courses that give them an opportunity to grow as an individual and learn what our justice system is like.

3. Journalism- If you love to write and always know the latest news, you may want to look into taking some journalism courses. Classes for journalism prepare students for the deadlines and stresses of getting a good story for many to read.

Although these majors are just touching the surface to what is really out there, research what is best for you, and find a career that you love! To find out more, go here http://transfer.taftcollege.edu/majors.php

TIL

TIL Video

The TIL Program

by Juan Ochoa

The Transition to Independent Living Program, better known TIL Program, at Taft College started in 1995. The program had its first graduating class of sixteen graduates was in June of 1997. According to Tracine Hallum, the program director, the objective of the TIL Program is to teach adults with developmental disabilities to live on their own.

The program is a 22 month program from August 1st to the last Friday of June. To be eligible a student must be mild to moderate developmentally disabled and a client of Regional Center, which is an ongoing support program. There is no automatic acceptance. The student has to understand why they are going to the program and the families of the students have to be on board. Not all pass the interview processes. A successful TIL student gets to participate in a Taft College graduation and a TIL Program graduation.

The TIL program gives students a collegic experience. “Taft is the perfect situation for the program due to it’s size” according to Transition Specialist Jamia Marcell. Jamia also said that the community embraces the students and helps provide jobs with them. TIL students work eight hours a week and are paid minimum wage, and are categorized as college student workers.

A few stats about the 125 tracked graduates are that 95% live independently, 90% are employed, 51% live alone, and 49% live with a roommate. 99% of TIL Program graduates have the skills to live independently.

Stress

Stress

Stress on the Student Mind

By Gloria Saldivar

One out of four college students reports feeling stressed daily. There are many factors that contribute to this fact whether it is the lack of sleep, the workload, personal problems at home, or even financial problems. The average college student will definitely experience stress and learning how to cope with that stress is very important.

Most college students know of someone that has tried to tackle stress in a wrong and unhealthy way. Coping with it in a wrong way can lead to a downhill spiral that can knock just about anyone off track. Dealing with stress does not have to be difficult; it is actually fairly easy especially when you follow the four A’s: avoid, alter, accept, and adapt.

Avoid: avoiding stress is completely up to oneself. It can be easily done here at Taft College by staying on track with ones school work, keeping in mind that it is making a better student out of you, and there will be less stressful all-nighters.

Alter: we are in complete control of our stressful situations. We have the ability to change the way things are going and try to make them better.

Accept: if for some reason something can’t be changed than accept it. Maybe financial aid is not fully covering tuition. Accepting that and coming up with ways to help pay for tuition is the responsible thing to do instead of complaining about it and making life difficult.

Adapt: learning how to manage time can be rough and it can even take a toll on students if not well prepared. Adapting to the college life is not the easiest thing to do, but it can be done.

Following the four A’s can be beneficial if used to ones’ advantage. Other simple ways to reduce stress is by simply taking deep breathes and clearing the mind for a couple of minutes. Coming up with solutions will be easier once the mind is cleared of all the hectic things going on. Another way is to get the body in motion to get rid of all the tension that builds up during stressful times and get those good ol’ endorphins running through the body.

Dealing with stress does not have to be stressful! (no pun intended) . Cope with it the right way, and you’ll be one step closer to the road of success.

Petroleum Roundtable Initiative

Roundtable Initiative

By Alejandro De Alba

Attention! The West Kern Petroleum Initiative Roundtable is going to be held on March 20, 2014, at 9:00 am in the Taft College Cougar Room, and everyone is invited and encouraged to attend. There is going to be a special guest speaker Omar Garcia. Omar Garcia is the President of the South Texas Energy & Economic Roundtable (STEER).

Garcia is a graduate from St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. Garcia holds a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish/International Business. Omar is a former vice president of the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation, and has over 12 years of Economic Development experience in working for the Texas Governor’s Office.

In addition to his economic development experience, Garcia spent two years working for Bank of America as Vice President of Business Development for their Treasury Management division.

If there is any questions that you may have for Mr. Garcia please feel free to attend the initiative.

Flipping the Classroom

Flipping the Classroom

By Kendyl Chavez

The newest talked about word in the educational world is flipping the classroom. According to Cynthia J. Brame, CFT Assistant Director at Vanderbilt University, proclaims that, ‘“flipping the classroom” means that students gain first exposure to new material outside of class, usually via reading or lecture videos, and then use class time to do the harder work of assimilating that knowledge, perhaps through problem-solving, discussion, or debates.”

For those students who have experience with online classes or even some students who have taken on-campus classes, they have been exposed to this concept. Some teachers have based their class on students watching required lecture videos at home rather than sitting in lecture during class.

Is this method affective? Do students find “flipping the classroom” affective in their learning process?

After talking to some students about their experience with online lecture videos, I found that students are more interested in the quality of the video than how easy it is to understand the lecture. Some students like watching lecture videos on their own time, at their convenience, and there are others who would rather have an in class lecture.

Personally, I have found that some teachers’ approaches to flipping the classroom is boring and pointless. I would prefer to sit in class and listen to a lecture where I can take notes and ask questions rather than be at home and try to understand everything that is being said on my own. For example, I had a class where it was required to watch an online lecture video and take notes as homework; then in class, we were to ask questions on homework problems. I found that this approach was hard and more confusing because of our short amount of time in class and limited scheduled class meetings; there wasn’t much room for asking questions and getting clarification on everything that I needed help with.

Compared to on campus classes, I found that I learned more from the professor’s lectures in class compared to lectures online.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Preparing for Graduation

The Do’s and Don’ts of Preparing for Graduation

By Kaylynn Clark

With many students facing their last semester at Taft College, I have found there to be a major disconnect between what counselors need out of a prospective Taft College graduate and what students know about how to apply for graduation. This can create many unanswered questions for students.  In short, there are many things to consider when graduating.  First, make an appointment with your proper department counselor as soon as possible if you think you qualify for graduation, then refer to a few of my do’s and don’ts of preparing for graduation.

DO

Check your intended major, and if you have taken the classes you need to fall under that major.  Most majors have requirements that need to be fulfilled if you would like to graduate with your associate’s degree. Taking some undergraduate courses at a junior college can potentially save you thousands in tuition costs at a university if you plan on transferring.

DON’T

Take classes for something that does not fall under a potential career opportunity for you, stick to your general education and major requirements. For example, if you don’t plan on being a nurse, then you probably did not need to take those 4 extra science classes. Your counselor should steer you in the proper direction of the classes you can take if you have a career plan!

DO

Ask as many questions as you need to feel comfortable with the graduation process. Make a list of questions you have before you see your counselor. They are there to help you, but only if you ask!

DON’T

Go in to your counseling appointment unprepared. Familiarize yourself with the graduation application papers and your general education requirements. This can save you from feeling confused about the process of graduating.

DO

Know the dates that you must fill out a graduation application. There is a window of time that you must submit your application by. Refer to the Taft College homepage (under the” important dates” tab) for these dates.

DON’T

Submit your graduation application late or forget to turn it in!

Movie Review: The Wolf of Wall Street

Movie Review: The Wolf of Wall Street

By Kendyl Chavez

Over the winter break, The Wolf of Wall Street starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill was released on December 25, 2013. This movie is based on the true story of Jordan Belfort’s greatest success and fails of his life. The Wolf of Wall Street stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort, Jonah Hill as Donnie Azoff, Margot Robbie as Naomi Lapaglia, Matthew McConaughey as Mark Hanna, along with many others.

This movie shows us how Jordan Belfort got his start as a stockbroker and what he progressively became as the years went on. Belfort’s Wall Street story started when he was in his early 20s and aspiring to become the most successful stockbroker on Wall Street. After the crash of the economy and the loss of the most important job of his life, Jordan Beltfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) aspires to start his own business and uses all of the advice from Mark Hanna to become the founder of his own firm, Stratton Oakmont. Along with his success, Beltfort begins to get caught up in drugs, alcohol, partying, and having affairs with women until his life takes a turn and Beltfort gets arrested for his illegal stock broking actions.

I thought that the actors portrayed the roles of each character to the best of their ability and made the story believable. Each character was different and had different issues, which were played so well that it’s easy for the audience to believe each character. The director showed the side of Wall Street that not a lot of people know about and the affects money and success have on these people. Although the movie showed Beltfort’s story in detail, it was a long movie and kind of dragged on towards the end. I also thought the language in the movie was really explicit and so were the drug scenes. This is definitely a movie for an audience who doesn’t mind a movie about sex, drugs, and explicit language.

The Macaroni and Cheese Festival

The Macaroni & Cheese Festival

By: Lisa Ybarra

Cal State Bakersfield is hosting the Macaroni & Cheese festival on Saturday April 12th. This event is sponsored by American General Media. More than twenty chefs will be handing out samples of gourmet macaroni and cheese. Also more than forty local breweries and wineries will be at the event with their products. This is all included with the purchase of your ticket. Products available for purchase include cheese, olive oils, gelato, and almonds. Musical guests Truxton Mile and Chris Gardner will perform. Guests will be able to vote for their favorite mac and cheese; the top three winners will win a prize. Tickets are 45$ and you must be 21 and over.

New Teacher Profile: Adam Bledsoe

New Teacher Profile: Adam Bledsoe

By Kendyl Chavez

New Teacher Profile: Adam Bledsoe

Along with new students on campus this year, Taft College has also added a new professor to their Cougar team, Mr. Adam Bledsoe. Not only is this Mr. Bledsoe’s first year teaching at TC, this is also his first year teaching at the college level.

Mr. Bledsoe graduated from Cal State University of Bakersfield with a bachelors degree in history and a masters degree in Business. Mr. Bledsoe’s teaching career started at Stockdale High School in Bakersfield, California as a history teacher. After realizing that he didn’t enjoy teaching history as much as he had anticipated, Bledsoe was able to switch into teaching economics due to his Minor in economics. Once he started teaching economics and realized that econ was what he wanted to teach, Bledsoe went back to school to get his business degree.

Years later, Mr. Bledsoe had come to the conclusion that he wanted to expand on his teaching career and try teaching economics at the college level. At Stockdale, Mr. Bledsoe had taught the Honors and AP economics classes which compare to college courses, so he had some experience and an idea of what teaching at the college level would be like. I had asked Mr. Bledsoe at which level did he like better, high school or college, and he said college. He went on to say, “Students in college actually want to be here. High school students don’t seem to care as much.”

After talking to Mr. Bledsoe, students can tell by the way he talks about teaching at his new school that he seems truly happy where he is. Bledsoe wants to continue teaching and the college level and in the next 4 years, he wants to try to get tenured. Mr. Bledsoe wants nothing more than to improve and make his classes more entertaining and active as possible.

I had Mr. Bledsoe for Macroeconomics this past semester and I would recommend him to any of my peers or fellow classmates! Not only is he interested and likes what he’s teaching, he is very helpful and makes everything easy to understand. His classes aren’t full of boring lectures, he doesn’t make you want to be on your phone or leave class to go home. I asked Mr. Bledsoe what his idea of a perfect student would be and he replied, “Someone who is engaged and wants to learn . . .not going through the motions to get a good grade.” Welcome to TC Mr. Bledsoe!

TC facebookPage

Taft College facebook Page

By Alejandro De Alba

Taft College has a facebook page, its called Taft College Alumni and Friends. The page is a great way to stay connected with people from the school past and present as well as keeping up with up coming events that are happening on and away from campus.

Retired Vice President of Instructions Dr. Loretta Lipscomb’s daughter Jessica Gehle started the page. Taft College Alumni and Friends page was started about 3 years ago but was hardly ever used, until Mahea Maui took over and started posting. If you have anything that you would like to be posted please contact Mahea at mmaui@taftcollege.edu, and she will get it take care of it.

There are also two other facebook pages that you can follow for updates, and they are the Taft College TIL Program and Taft College Dental Hygiene Program. Also, be on the look for a Taft College Twitter account; be one of the first to follow and get the word passed around.