Yo! Youth OutLook

Summer school is, in a word, abolished—at City College that is. Save for a few vocational classes, which are state-mandated, CCSF will do away with their once great summer program. The plan for the time being is to compensate for a whopping $12 million budget shortage. Some of the classes had a chance to be spared by contributions from donators but alas, the efforts were met with the vigor of a slug in the rain. City College of San Francisco even had a massive garage sale to help offset the costs. This calamity has ushered in an era of mass frustration and will no doubt persist as students scramble around in search of a school that offers a summer program to suit their needs—I am one of those students.

I wanted to transfer out of City College in two years time so that I could attend a good four year university, and was on pace until I realized that, aside from swamping myself with more than the recommended number of units (which requires a counselors signature), there is no way I would meet my required units to attempt a transfer to the college I had in mind (UC Berkeley). As a full time student, by default, I have a rigorous scholastic schedule that requires more than a half-assed effort to accumulate a high enough GPA so that I don’t miss out on the school that I want to go to. Now, with the demand for UC transferable classes that will undoubtedly surface at Skyline and other neighboring colleges, I may have to put my dreams on hold for another six months at the least.

Among the classes that I could not register for this term or any of the previous terms that I have attended City College for is math. Math and English are the most popular courses at CCSF and luckily, I only need to worry about Math at the moment because my English major requirements are just about met. The prospectus of attending Skyline College for the summer isn’t entirely bad—a change of venue won’t hurt my feelings and quite frankly, I just want to meet my requirements.

I carry my anxieties like berries in a basket, hidden beneath a blanket and neatly tucked away. Certainly, this is no more than another berry for the bunch. Simple diligence will help me, and hopefully several others through this unpleasant time. Here’s to never being buried in berries.

-- Walter Lopez