Has school spirit died over the years at Yuba Community College, or has it always been this way? It seems that YCC students don’t really care at all about what goes on around campus.
I’ve discovered that there is a huge lack of student participation here at Yuba College. It’s a seemingly wild trend for today’s demographic to keep to themselves, or rather use the internet to communicate and gather information. It’s understandable that people prefer to do things their own way, but that shouldn’t be the excuse to use.
For example, you’ll find that we at the Prospector have few journalists who are writing multiple articles within this printed edition alone. The last time I had checked, there are over 10,000 students enrolled to this community college. So where exactly is everyone and why is the school newspaper team so small? We’re here to report, and write, important stories for our student body, but it seems that many students have not read our paper or even know about us.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. While Yuba College is continuously promoting events for students and community members alike, the turnouts are usually lower than one would have hoped for. Last month, the Theater Arts class delivered a grand performance over at the theater, yet, I saw very few students attending the opening night that had a personal interest in going just to go. It shouldn’t require a professor asking their students to go to for extra credit. Nor does it require being family members or friends of the cast.
Then what do students care about?
When asked, a few students remarked that they’re just attending Yuba College for the transferable credits. They’re just not simply interested in what is going on, which is completely understandable.
This is Arthur Marquez’s second semester at Yuba College, and he says, “Yeah, I just don’t really care.”
According to Bob Cross, a tutor at this college, a community college is an educational institute to give students a stepping stone toward a higher education, or to give others the chance they never received at high school.
Travis Bishop, a student who has been coming here for two and a half years, says that he chose to enroll for Yuba College because he lives close by. And while he’s been here, he has elected to not pay any attention to events going on due to lack of interest.
On top of that, the Associated Students of Yuba College (ASYC) campaign has a low turnout, with only 7 people interested in running for a government body position this semseter.
Of course, students aren’t the only ones to blame, because even though some students don’t care, others have not been given the opportunity to be “in the know.” The PR on this campus isn’t too well-organized, if there is any at all.
The Yuba College website advertises that there are multiple clubs on the campus, but I have yet to hear anything from them. There are no bulletins being posted around asking people to join the clubs. Where exactly are all the clubs?
And I’ll be the first to admit that the PR for our school newspaper is lacking. We should be pushing out more information to garner from students, because it is practically our job and we’re not doing enough of it. It may be because we’re so understaffed. Or it may be that we are also one of the many that just don’t care enough.
One thing is for sure, I have seen more school spirit at a high school than I do out here. I seriously hope it doesn’t take a wide-scale scandal, like a student-teacher relationship for example, to get people to start looking at what goes on around here.
So don’t expect life to just fall into your lap, make yourself a part of it. If you get left behind, you might only end up getting scraps for your worth.
Capa is the mild-mannered, culturally-confused English major of The Prospector. As an aspiring novelist he thrives to write simply for the sake of writing. Other than writing he spends most of his free time on music and video games, sometimes even combining the two. Also likes to think he’s up in the-know with technology. No, not really. Reach him at prospector.clo@gmail.com for comments and/or suggestions.
The ASYC has worked very hard to combat the rampant apathy found in our student body. Next year, the Prospector should partner with the ASYC to better serve the campus. Many events, like our No Shave November and movie nights, are left out of the student mindset. As a student, do you find yourself being a part of the community actively or do you sit out most events? The more people who join in on sporting events and campus activities the stronger our community will become. Keep Yuba College weird!