Mission Las Positas College provides an inclusive, learning-centered, equity-focused environment that offers educational opportunities and support for completion of students’ transfer, degree, and career-technical goals while promoting lifelong learning.
Vision Las Positas College strives to support and empower students to develop the knowledge, skills, values, and abilities needed to become engaged participants and leaders in their local and global communities.
Values Las Positas College thrives as a collaborative teaching and learning community committed to integrity and excellence by: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Encouraging and celebrating lifelong learning Responding to the needs of the ever-changing workplace and society Demonstrating civic, social and environmental responsibility Promoting ethical behavior, mutual trust, equity, and respect within our diverse community Fostering a climate of discovery, creativity, personal development, and physical & mental health Committing to anti-racist policies and practices Ensuring that Las Positas is a sanctuary campus for undocumented students Holding firm to the belief that each of us makes an astonishing difference
Naked Magazine: Issue 1: Spring 2008
Issue 2: Fall 2008
Issue 3: Spring 2009
New Orleans Revisited
Jeff Bennet
Page 21
Page 8 LPC to CNN a student’s
NATIONAL TEAM
LPC’s soccer superstar head coach THE NOISE MAKER
anchor aspirations
Melissa Korber
Advisor Issues 1, 2, 4-16
DRESSED FOR HIRE a few quick ideas on dressing to impress
sue
Marcus Thompson
EIC: Andre Kim
Advisor/Writer Issues 1-16
Issue 6: Spring 2012
“realthe is job”
the torrent of the music industry and going solo
www.nakedmag.org
EIC: Alton Richardson
EIC: Meghann Sarubbi
Issue 7: Fall 2013
Issue 8: Spring 2014
Aretha Welch Q&A
Trevin Smith Q&A
Page 39
Page 37
Jason Leskiw Q&A
Page 40
EIC: Brenda Cruz
EIC: Trevin Smith
EIC: Charlie Urcia
Issue 11: Spring 2017
Issue 12: Fall 2018
Issue 13: Spring 2019 12th Edition
Naked stripping away
Courtney Metz Issue 11, 16
EIC: Courtney Metz 2 nakedlpcmagazine.com
the layers of LPC
2018
Jennifer Snook Designer
EIC: Morgan Brizee
Issues 12-16
EIC: Tim Cech
: Past and Present Issue 4: Spring 2010
Issue 5: Spring 2011 Lost Potential
Page 16
Cassie (Kolias) Stossel Writer Issues 4, 16
EIC: Cassie (Kolias)
EIC: Julian Lim
Issue 9: Spring 2015
Issue 10: Spring 2016
Bekka Wiedenmeyer Q&A
Martin Gallegos
Page 14
Kalama Hines
Page 38
Page 11
Kalama Hines
Issues 9, 16
Ian Jones
Designer/Photographer Issues 9-11, 13, 14, 16
*
EIC: Travis Danner
EIC:Tami Shepherd
Issue 14: Spring 2020
Issue 15: Spring 2021
Mitchell Mylius Q&A
Page 41
Brianna Guillory
Writer/Designer Issues 10-11, 14, 16
Nezrin Hasanly
Issues 15-16
Elizabeth Joy
Nathan Canilao
Writer
Issues 13, 16
Brandon Byrne
Editor-in-Chief
EIC: Brianna Guillory
Issues 14-16
PR
EIC: Emily Forshen
Issues 15-16 NAKED 2022
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Letter from the Editor At the beginning of the 2021-22 school year, I wasn’t even a student at Las Positas. I was enrolled at San Jose State, but due to some transfer rules, I was not able to take any student media classes. I missed writing and the joy it gave me whenever I would be in meetings discussing what stories were going to be written and what images we would use for the upcoming magazine or newspaper. It was a sunny day on Oct. 12, 2021. I was sitting in the Martin Luther King Jr. Public Library on San Fernando St. in San Jose. I was so anxious to write something of significance that I reached out to the Naked Magazine advisor, Melissa Korber, around 3:37 P.M. to let her know that if Naked needed any extra stories or any type of help, that I would gladly step in and provide my services. She informed me that the magazine class was canceled due to low enrollment. The good news was that enough alumni stepped in and offered their services in order to keep the magazine rolling. People from different eras of the magazine wanted in on what would be the 16th issue of this publication. It was like Dr. Strange opened a portal to some of the greatest writers
and photographers that left their imprint on this publication. I wasn’t surprised. The journalism department at Las Positas is a family. We keep close even after our two (or more) years are up and we leave for the next place. Room 2409, where we hold our production meetings and come up with our next ideas, is a home. The connections we make throughout our time in that room last lifetimes. And those feelings of home and friendship are exactly what this issue is about. As you flip through each page and story, you’ll find out exactly what makes this school home for so many of us. As you strip through each layer of the history of this magazine, you’ll find that the bigger story here is the impact Las Positas has had on the many faces that pass through 3000 Campus Hill Drive. This is not so much a throwback issue as it is a revisit of the many great stories and people that came through this school. I hope you’ll find comfort in the many stories and pictures that are filled throughout each page of this issue. Just like how I and many others found comfort in making this magazine year after year. Hope you enjoy! Editor-in-Chief Nathan Canilao
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Special thanks to our sponsors! and
Jim Ott
Las Positas College Literary Arts Festival Saturday, May 7th, 2022 Las Positas College Campus LasPositasCollege.edu/Literary-Festival Also Featuring:
Reyna Grande
screenwriter
-A Dream Called Home -The Distance Between Us
Paul Guay
-Liar, Liar -Heartbreakers
Tamim Ansary
-West of Kabul, East
of New York
-Games Without
Rules: The OftenInterrupted History of Afghanistan
Brian Turner -Here, Bullet -My Life as a Foreign Country
-Inclusive Characterization with Michelle Cruz Gonzales -Race & the Graphic Novel with Shawn Taylor -Food & Wine Writing Panel with Gabrielle Myers -LPC Poetry Slam with Bri & Tri -Havik Publication & Awards Ceremony
Generously supported in part by a grant from the Las Positas College Foundation
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Hawks4Life Supports Las Positas College graduates Deep Connections • Build a network with other graduates
Stay informed • Many Las Positas College events are available online, or at a discount to former
Expand your skills • This past year, Hawks4Life presented a webinar on increasing Workplace Equity
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A service of the Chabot-Las Positas Community College District and a partner of EastBay Works
Resources for Students VIRTUAL AND IN-PERSON* SERVICES AT THE TRI-VALLEY CAREER CENTER *MASKS AND PROOF OF VACCINATION REQUIRED FOR IN-PERSON SERVICES
ENROLL IN OUR WIOA PROGRAM TO ACCESS:
WE OFFER THE FOLLOWING TO ALL VISITORS:
Scholarships for vocational training certificates in growth industries. Examples: truck driving, medical assistant, project manager, digital marketing, human resource management, accounting, data analytics, UX Design, etc.
FREE VIRTUAL WORKSHOPS INCLUDIN
Help paying for industry-recognized exams (e.g. PMP, NREMT, COMPTIA A+, CISSP, etc.), interview clothes, and transportation to new job/ training for students with financial need. Free one-on-one career advising and job search assistance (resume reviews, interview practice, etc.)
Resume writing Interviewing LinkedIn Networking Career assessments + more
FREE RESUME & COVER LETTER TEMPL TYPING TESTS
FREE ONLINE JOB BOARD: JOBS.TRIVALLEYCAREERCENTER.O
CALENDAR OF WORKSHOPS: https://www.trivalleycareercenter /calendar/virtual-workshops/
For further details, visit us at trivalleycareercenter.org
5860 Owens Dr. 3rd Floor Pleasanton, CA 94588 | 925-416-5100 | trivalleycareercenter@clpccd.org NAKED 2022 7
Jeff Bennett
SUPER SENIOR by Cassie Kolias
Staring down from the press box at Allegiant Stadium, Jeff Bennett has a bird’s eye view of the entire Las Vegas Raiders setup. At the middle of the field is the famous shield logo, a raider with two cutlass swords crossed and facing blade down. The lights, the energy, and the anticipation of 65,000 people surge in the newly minted home of the silver and black. Giving the nearby famous Las Vegas strip a run for its money. He’s on top of the world. But his view wasn’t always quite this grand. Before the NFL, before the gleam of a shiny new office to work in, and before the glitz of Sin City, Bennett called a much smaller room home. The Las Positas College Express newsroom. “I loved the late nights in the newsroom,” Bennett said. “I think our record was 2 a.m. Something happened and we had to redo all the pages real 8 nakedlpcmagazine.com
quick. We had a guy named Will on the paper who knew the security guard, so he’d talk to him while we finished so we wouldn’t get yelled at for still being there.” Until the COVID-19 pandemic hit and before the Raiders made their move from Oakland, Bennett was the ultimate super senior. When he left campus in 2019, it was after 15 years as a student and a consultant for the Journalism and Mass Communications program. Over more than a decade, he won 26 awards for his work on The Express, and was part of nearly 200 issues, graduating with two certificates and one degree. Bennett originally joined The Express in 2005, during his second year at Las Positas. Having always loved taking photos, he became a photographer for the newspaper by chance.
“I was in the photo room and I had taken photos of the soccer game and I was developing them,” Bennett said. “Someone came in and saw them and asked if I wanted to take photos for the paper.” It makes sense that his soccer photos were noticed because Bennett has a particular fondness for photographing sports. For him, it’s about the challenge. About capturing the action. Being able to get that peak moment. The right frame at the right time. Photography is what got him to the newspaper, but he had no idea all of the projects he’d eventually take on. Bennett would eventually work his way through the editorial board positions, becoming the Photo Editor, Sports Editor, Production Editor, and eventually even Editor-in-Chief. “I do have this one memory of him coming into the room and saying he was a photographer and he was never going to write a story and he just wanted to take pictures,” said Melissa Korber, co-adviser of The Express, Naked Magazine, and Havik. “And of course it didn’t turn out that way. He was a stringer for a local newspaper, winning an award for his writing eventually. So I sometimes even tell that story to my students who say they just want to do one thing or another.” After so many years on staff, Bennett became an in-house expert, taking on a mentorship role with other students, even if reluctantly. “He’s a bit of a character… a little bit of an acquired taste,” Korber said. “I warn the students to not take him too seriously, you have to have fun with him. If you don’t have fun with him you’re missing part of the Jeff Bennett experience, because he’s going to go in there and say what he feels and he’s not gonna have a lot of filter with it. He’s just going to say “no, that’s not a good idea.” Always joking, Bennett likes to claim that he was “a nightmare people can’t get out of their minds,” in the newsroom. Korber says that “he took great pride in that,” but at the end of the day, Bennett’s tough love, unfiltered approach helped a lot of students who came through the program. His brutally honest feedback helped students grow a thick skin and learn from the expertise that he had to offer. Despite the hard-shell exterior, the intentions were pure. He wanted people to do a good job, to learn and to not take the easy way out. “A few times I’ve seen him mentor people over the years and have just seen it click,” Korber says. “Just seeing the person kind of go to the next level based on what Jeff was telling them.”
Everyone’s journey at Las Positas may look different, that’s one element that makes community college unique. You can be in and out in two years, or you can spread it out and go at a pace that works for you. Because Las Positas was an affordable option for school, Jeff chose to take his time with classes. Often having semesters with one other class besides being part of The Express. During his time at LPC, though to pay the bills, Jeff often had multiple jobs. Some of them included working for the Tri-Valley Herald for three years, a stint at Target, pet sitting, working at a camera shop, and eventually working for the Oakland A’s and the San Francisco 49ers with their photographer Michael Zagaris. “My record was 6 paychecks from different jobs in one month,” Bennett said. As a mainstay on campus, Jeff was usually recognizable by his flat-cap, newsboy style hat that was lined with a white and pink stripe, a hat stolen from a former girlfriend. “I took it and wore it so I could look like a golfer and then I just kept it and always wore it,” Bennett said. “It started falling apart, so it had a forced retirement. I still have that hat, though.” He was rarely seen without it, becoming synonymous with him. A character trait, a feature of his personality. As infamous as Bennett himself. “When I picture him in my mind, I still see the pink stripe,” Korber said. “That’s the image of Jeff. The pink stripe made that one special. That’s what he was known for.” These days he wears a completely different hat. Instead of a newsboy cap, he’s got a grey one in the mix. Something that looks between a bowler and a homburg. A different style of hat for a different time in his life, perhaps. He lives in Las Vegas now, where he works as the photo editor and archivist for the Las Vegas Raiders. He started working for the team in 2019 when they were still in Oakland, and he was asked to make the move to the desert. “I’m in charge of doing photo captions for all the photographers’ photos and tagging them, creating all the galleries that we put online and then maintaining the archives,” Bennett said. “And then I also do a few photo assignments here and there to shoot. During the games from the press box, I’ve
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got my camera up there and sometimes do overhead shots of the game.” Always self-deprecating, Bennett couldn’t help but note that he got his current position because of a failed job application. He said they were hiring for a game day photographer back in Oakland and he didn’t get the position. What he downplayed was that the team called him a week later with an offer to apply to a different position. One that would involve his skill for caption writing, which he flexed at Las Positas, but also in his work for the Oakland A’s. His growth, and skill building over more than a decade at Las Positas helped get him to this point. “I’ve seen a lot of growth in him throughout the years,” Korber said. “He’s really a team player, even though on the surface you may not see that in him but he loves working with others.. The photography, I think, came really naturally to him. He’s a very
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gifted photographer, but if you look back on the awards, it started with photography and then writing and design and eventually videography. His willingness to learn new skills, I think, really led to where he is today.” He also had a stint as an archivist for the program, organizing files and creating a system that they still use today to pull back issues. He made a mark on Las Positas College, one that will be long-lasting. Bennett was there for the beginnings of what is now a robust Journalism and Mass Communications program. “I always feel like he can walk in the room and pick up where he left off. He will always fit in here, in his own unique way,” Korber said. “I haven’t seen him in a few years because of the pandemic, but I feel like he’s always kind of in the room.”
Kalama I walked onto the Las Positas College campus a 26-year-old expectant father with no clear direction. There, I found my calling and from it harvested a career. Las Positas provided me the opportunity to develop new tools, and sharpen those I had — whether I knew about them or not. It illuminated a path at the intersection of my interests — a love of learning and a passion for storytelling. It was at “Las Po” where I discovered my voice. It was there that I learned I had one. Many success stories include a chapter titled “Las Positas.” My book has several. When I arrived at Las Positas, it was in the same way many have — with diminished expectations and the urge to hurry through my time there. I honestly believed my greatest lesson would be one I taught myself — in which direction I would take my higher
learning. I could not have been more mistaken. Even after graduating, I found myself clinging to the campus, seeking further instruction. I have now worked with and edited the work of reporters with much more recognizable institutions’ names printed on their certificates of achievement, and I can say without a doubt that the training I received at the tiny Livermore campus rivals those received elsewhere. Having been out of school for nearly a decade, I dipped my toes into the higher learning pool rather than diving in upon my return. In my first semester, I took speech, an elective that would satisfy a requirement for most areas of study. I expanded a bit for my next semester, registering NAKED 2022
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for math and English. While I knew my interests, I was still searching for something that spoke to me. My interests — at least as I knew — were limited. The only thing that could hold my attention for any length of time was sports, so I was certain my career would somehow be down that path. After considering business management, and a career as a sports agent for a short period — a VERY short period — I added another interest to the shallow pile. I like to learn (something I didn’t realize was an interest at the time because it seemed so natural), and furthermore I like to share what I learn. So I took my love of storytelling to the radio class, and along with a classmate launched Radio Las Positas’ “Sex, Lies and Radio,” an entertainment broadcast that ran for several years on Tuesday nights from 8 to 10 p.m. It was fun, but it still wasn’t me. Then, when the normal instructor was out on paternity leave, fellow faculty member Marcus Thompson filled in. For those who have not had the pleasure of a lecture from Thompson, you have missed out. His banter with the class was so much like how I imagined myself as a teacher. His style was something that drew me in — though I was one of
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few students who was not familiar with him or his work at the time. His teaching style was so interesting and entertaining to me, it lured me to The Express newsroom and “Intro to News Writing.” Had you asked me even months before, I would have bet money I would never spend more time than it took to visit a newsroom as a tourist inside of one. But I fell in love with journalism. And I did so quickly. My first assignment was a news story about the Starbucks that had just opened in the student center. I look back on that story now and chuckle at how little about the craft I knew. Reporting combined so many things I never truly realized I loved. Throughout high school, I enjoyed English and essay-writing but only because it guided me in the direction of educating myself on something in which I had no previous interest. For high-school me, writing wasn’t the joyful part of the essay, it was the unwanted task at the end of the research. I learned that news writing was similar, but that I had been going about writing incorrectly all along. Writing is about sharing your joy of something — Las Positas taught me that. I quickly discovered that I could spend a few hours making myself an expert on a topic — be it
a person, a class, a board meeting, whatever — and provide necessary information to readers in the form of a 400-word news story. Those 400 words became my fun. For more than two years, I ingested information a week at a time and offered what I deemed most fit to readers. Before I left the Las Positas newsroom, I was doing the same for the Pleasanton Weekly, covering city and town meetings in San Ramon and Danville and educating the residents and readers. What many don’t understand about being a reporter is: the writing is the easy part. The other side of the job — equal parts difficult and entertaining — is gathering the information, through interviews, observations or research. Then, you get to lump it together to inform others while sharing a piece of yourself in every story. Las Positas taught me to share myself through content that did not involve me. And it isn’t about the application of opinion. Rather, it is about explaining in your own voice — like a painter’s unique brushstrokes, or a film director who chooses the lens through which we see the story unfold. By the time I left Las Positas, I had received a call from the big leagues — in the most literal sense imaginable. I was hired by SFBay to cover Bay Area professional sports while still attending classes. There, my first assignment was a Major League Baseball Game — Giants versus Pirates. But I wasn’t on the game story that day, I was asked to find a
feature, and decided to write about how the Giants had not had a single player steal 30 bases in a season since Dave Roberts did so in 2007 — they still haven’t, by the way. In the five years I spent working for SFBay, I looked back on the lessons I received at Las Positas, and often consulted the faculty, Thompson and Melissa Korber, and even former ‘Express’ classmates for guidance. Eventually that guidance was positioned in the same press box when Martin Gallegos became the A’s beat writer for Bay Area News Group then MLB.com. And when the guidance wasn’t readily available, I would, from time to time, ask myself, “how would Marcus and Melissa expect me to do this?” The faculty left its mark on me, guiding me through every story I write. My time at Las Positas, specifically the hours and hours I spent in the Express Newsroom, have left a lasting impression on me. I brought those lessons with me when I took a job covering news in Southeast Idaho. Whether I am doing a video hit from a breaking news location or writing up a prison sentence or a budget plan, I am constantly using the skills I learned and learned I had at Las Positas. And nary a month goes by when I don’t look back on those late production nights, family dinners and heated debates over page layout and proper art. I discovered my voice and learned to harness my love of learning and storytelling at Las Positas, but more importantly, I developed relationships I will hold with me for a lifetime. NAKED 2022 13
From 2409 to Tesla
Words by Nathan Canilao A young Martin Gallegos sits in the very last row of seats in room 2409. He doesn’t exactly know what he’s doing in this class, but wanted to give it a shot. The class he is taking is the school newspaper production class. He stays silent and listens intently while Professors Melissa Korber and Marcus Thompson II teach the class about nut grafs and story structure. He quietly writes down his notes and takes in all the information he was given. After class, he heads to Panera Bread on Dublin Boulevard where he will work his night shift serving customers their tomato soup or Frontega chicken sandwich. After work, he’ll go and work on the basketball recap that he was assigned in class and hopefully make tomorrow’s 1 P.M. deadline. Fast forward to 2022 and Gallegos is driving a white Tesla to work. He writes for the A’s division of the MLB network and gets to interact with MLB players on a daily basis.
So how did a quiet Mexican teenager from Tracy end up driving a Tesla and working for Major League Baseball? In his mind, it came from hardwork and taking each opportunity with a grain of salt. Though he was a quiet kid, he learned to listen to his peers and his elders. It was through the teachings of community college that Gallegos found his passion: sports writing. “When I walked in on the first day, I didn’t know how to form a nut graf, I didn’t know how to formulate a story,” said Gallegos. “But I took all those lessons and made the most of it.” Writing wasn’t necessarily on the list of career choices for Gallegos. He loved sports and the joy it gave him, but he didn’t know how that would formulate into a career. His father, a restaurant manager, was the one who got Gallegos to watch sports at a very young age. Gallegos and his father would watch the 49ers play at candlestick or vis-
it the Oracle to watch the Warriors. Sometimes he would bring him to the Colosseum to watch the Oakland A’s, a team he adored his whole life. “At any time of the day, something sports-related was on the TV. Whether it’d be a Sports Center or some type of boxing event, we as a family always watched sports,” said Gallegos. After graduating from Merrill West High School in Tracy, Gallegos enrolled at Las Positas College. He also was able to grab a job at Panera Bread, working night shifts to save up some money. “I was actually thinking about becoming a restaurant manager at Panera,” said Gaellegos. “My dad was in the food business for a long time and he was able to put together a pretty good life for us doing that.” But after becoming a staff member of the Express, Gallegos had a change of heart. He decided he wanted to pursue sports writing instead. He loved the thrill of watching games and
the excitement it gave him to write about something that was familiar to him. Gallegos would write about every sport whether it was basketball or water polo. He developed a habit of grinding out stories which would help him become a better writer. But it also helped him come out of his shell. Gallegos credits his work in the field to helping him overcome his shyness as a person. “For the time he was on staff, I can’t tell you if he said a word to me or not,” said Thompson. His time being the sports guy paid off. After college, he was able to get a full-time job for the San Jose Mercury News. He started off covering high school sports, but would go on to cover boxing and baseball. He even started a YouTube channel where he would post highlights and interviews of each event he attended. But it wasn’t all glitz and glamor at the start. Gallegos was laid off by
the Mercury News during a staff cut. He was able to freelance for the paper, but there was never a consistent amount of work he could do to make sure his bills were paid. “The thing about freelance is that you never know how much work you’ll get and I had an apartment in San Jose that I had to make rent on each month. So yeah it was definitely difficult in the beginning,” said Gallegos. But Gallegos was patient. He kept his head down and added to his portfolio any chance he could. That’s when he was able to score a job for Major League Baseball. More specifically, he was able to write for the team he grew up loving: The Oakland A’s. And there it was. Gallegos finally found the security in his job that he was looking for. It was a fairytale ending of sorts, but the work didn’t stop. Gallegos is fluent in both Spanish and English which helped him land this job. According to Statista, the MLB
has become more of an international league as of late with 31.7% of its players speaking Spanish. “Just being able to speak Spanish, automatically that barrier is just taken away,” said Gallegos. “I look at it as a way for me to be a voice for these guys.” Gallegos’ time at Las Positas shaped the way his career went. Even though he was quiet, he was able to take all the information in and use it when he most needed it. For some students, valuable information goes in one ear and out the other, but for others like Gallegos, it stays in a filing cabinet inside his brain. “Marcus and Melissa might have seen that I was just being quiet, but really I downloading their information so I could use it later,” said Gallegos.
By Melissa Korber Adviser
The story of 2409 is not complete without these kids. Their potential, their possibility, their presence resonate in the room.
As I approached Las Positas College, my mind was on “Naked” magazine. I was meeting a student to put the finishing touches on “Naked 4: The Lost Potentials Issue.” Cell phone on the empty seat next to me, I coasted, unburdened, into the empty late-December parking lot. Two hours later, I left campus. A paper with an address, scrawled with a shaking hand, was now on the seat next to me. Unfamiliar feelings of pure anxiety and expectation caused me to shudder — and then smile. In those two hours, my life had shifted: I was a mother now. You see, right after I parked my car, my cell phone rang: A newborn baby was waiting at a hospital in Fremont. Could I pick him up later today? Newborn. Baby. TODAY. This was not the timeline I envisioned when I decided to adopt, but I didn’t hesitate. First, I called my family. “Bring that baby home,” said my sister, who knew how much I wanted to be a mom. At work, I didn’t say anything about the baby. He was too momentous, too new. Part of me wondered if he was even real. The student and I finished up the magazine as the late December sun moved across the deserted campus. Then, I was on the road to pick up a car seat and diapers at Babies ‘R Us before making my way to the hospital, where a healthy baby boy awaited.
In the 12 years since then, Dominic has grown from a chubby-cheeked baby to a tall, strong, home-run hitting 6th grader. From that very first day, my life at Las Positas College has entwined with my boy’s life, creating a backdrop of creativity, technology and kinship that is part of his identity. And he is not alone. He is one of many children who have made their way to 2409 with their parents, one of many who carry the lessons from journalism of adaptability and tenacity with them. One of many who have taught us all as well. Sharon, my colleague Marcus’s daughter, was one of the first kids in the room. Like Dominic, she made her way there when she was a newborn. She has grown to be a tall, confident young woman among the Macs in 2409. Sharon’s presence in the room was often memorialized with drawings or full paragraphs written on the whiteboards, stories with pictures that wouldn’t be erased for days. She is a storyteller, like her dad. In 2409, the lessons of parenting intermingle with discussions of leads and fonts. The children of the editors become part of the story: Keali’i at the Giants game and Elliott on Halloween. So many firsts. So many leads. Three boys came from womb to room, Ares, Connor, and Ty, each joining a parent
or two there. Ares’s big sister Athena was already part of the journalism clan when he came to be, joining his mother and father, both long-time creative forces in 2409. As a newborn, Connor visited 2409 with his three-publication mother Courtney. Marcus rocked Connor in his arms while the students dispersed to the lab to work on stories for “Naked 13.” Ty, now a baseball and science loving grade-schooler, is Jason and Cierra’s child. When Jason, then sports editor of “The Express,” announced they were expecting, his face was flushed and he was beaming with pride and joy — especially joy. And joy is what the kids of 2409 bring to the room. Journalism is a serious business, filled with heart-wrenching stories, tight deadlines and high standards. Mistakes can create chaos. In the room, I am good cop to Marcus’s bad cop, coaxing and cajoling nervous writers to continue to create while
he assures them that they aren’t any good yet, marking up their work with suggestions, fresh takes and improvements. It’s a hard process, one that entails breaking down previous knowledge about good writing and replacing it with journalistic standards. In the margins of all this, the kids make us relax a little and smile a lot. Dominic at age five searching for the scariest Halloween wolf videos while the editors designed pages on computers, ignoring the howls. Isaiah, my godson, rolling down the hill outside the room with his puppy Daisy, who seemed to be flying. Athena and Dominic, fast friends, playing under a table during a Journalism Club movie. Sharon picking the cover for “Naked 7” when she was not yet in grade school, something we still share with the staff of the magazine. The story of 2409 is not complete without these kids. Their potential, their possibility, their presence resonate in the room. As the pandemic progresses, I’m acutely aware of how much I miss the room and all that it holds. Among the stacks of papers and magazines, the whiteboards and the Macs, we’ve forged a joyful space that nurtures creativity, at all ages. As I write this, winter break is approaching, and we’re working on “Naked 16.” I tell Dominic, “I need to go to campus. Want to come?” It’s December, and the pandemic is still percolating new strains. I know the campus will be mostly deserted. I also know that I will find a few dedicated student journalists working away in the lab. “Can I watch videos?” Dominic asks. “Of course,” I say. “You know you can make yourself at home.”
Age: 12 years Grade: 6th
babysitter when I was little.
What is your first memory of Las Positas College? My first memory was walking barefooted in the rose bushes outside the newsroom with my brother. We stepped on thorns and got bloody feet.
Do you use media now? Yes. My favorite is TikTok. What do you do for fun? I like to play baseball and video games. I jump on the trampoline. I go on TikTok. Any awards or recognition you’d like to brag about? I was MVP at a baseball tournament. I had a walk-off home run in one of the games.
What is your best memory of your mom’s job at LPC? When we went to a convention in Burbank, and I got to go swimming and go in the hot tub with the babysitter while my mom was working. Have you been to a lot of conventions? Yes. All of them since I was a baby. My mom says I’ve been to conventions in Los Angeles, Burbank, Sacramento, Louisville, and New Orleans with her and her students. She usually gets me a babysitter, and I get to go do fun stuff like Universal Studios while she works. Have you made any lasting connections with the student journalists you’ve met? Yes, I’ve made connections with a few of them: I still keep in touch with Mitchell Mylius, who was my 20 nakedlpcmagazine.com
What do you want to do when you grow up? I want to be an MLB player.
Watch out for the thorns.
What did you take away from your time in LPC’s journalism department that still guides you in life today?
Words of wisdom for prospective or current students? Stay in your own lane. Work hard. Have fun.
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Hoop Dreams: Part 2 Words by Nathan Canilao
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Rob Wallce isn’t usually up this early. It’s 5:15 A.M. on Thursday on a warm fall morning in October. His eyes, still half closed, are looking for a powerbox that turns on all of the lights at L.B. Landry High School in New Orleans, Louisiana. After he turns on the lights, he sets up cones on the golden brown hardwood floor. He grabs five Wilson brand basketballs from the equipment closet and hands them to his players. He lets his players stretch for five minutes. Then, he blows his whistle as if to say “wake up, it’s time for work.” After his players finish their workout, they get a quick huddle and break for class. Wallace stays behind in the coach’s office and turns on his laptop. He plans to watch film on the team’s next opponent until practice begins at 2:30. Once practice rolls around, he is like an energizer bunny. He’s jumping around yelling directions. He’s clapping and giving out daps to players after they make a shot or get a defensive stop. Practice is over and he goes back into the coach’s office. More film and more gameplanning. He and the coaching staff talk for hours about practice and games before he decides to go home. He makes sure to get to bed at a reasonable time because tomorrow is the same routine. This is his life now. Though the city of New Orleans has changed through-
out the years, Wallace hasn’t. He attended L.B. Landry from grades 9-11 and has done this many times before. He embodies the true meaning of a hooper. Wallace is also a graduate of Las Positas College. The circumstances that got him from New Orleans to Livermore are the stuff they make movies out of. He was featured on the cover of the first ever Naked Magazine back in 2006. The qualities that make him a great coach come from his time spent in the 925. He had to learn to adapt and make due with what he’s got. His time at Las Positas directly shaped what his life would become 16 years later. In 2006, Wallace was forced to relocate from his New Orleans home during his senior year of high school due to Hurricane Katrina. He played in his last year of high school ball in Houston and was looking for an opportunity to play hoops after graduation. He was approached by a recruiter to see if he was interested in playing community college ball at Las Positas. He agreed and moved halfway across the country to Livermore. He played college hoops for the Hawks for two years before transferring to Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi. After that, he continued to play professionally in Romania for Farul Constanta before retiring from the game completely. He returned home to take on a new challenge: Coaching. “I just wanted to give back to the young generation. I
“I just wanted to give back to the young generation. I wanted to teach them the right
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wanted to teach them the right route to take,” said Wallace. Wallace routinely plays music during practice. Most of the time it’s his players who control the AUX cord, but today he decided to play something from his playlist. As soon as he plugs his phone in and hits play, the sound of E40’s “Tell Me When to Go” starts to play. His players have a confused look on their face. Usually they’d play the likes of NBA Youngboy or Lil Wayne, but this new type of music was like listening to something in a different language. Wallace tells his players “You gotta ghostride the whip!” During his time in Livermore, Wallace learned the Bay culture inside and out. “It was definitely a culture shock at first,” said Wallace. “It was kind of odd seeing so many different types of people in one area. Where I come from it was mostly African-Americans, but I learned to adapt.” The ability to adapt is what helped Wallace become the successful coach that he is. The game today and the game that was played when Wallace was a player is totally different. The types of things that Wallace had to endure are not the type of things that his players now have to go through. “The players I coach today and the player I was when I went to Las Positas are different. There’s more social media and videos out now on everybody, but I’ve adjusted to it,” said Wallace. Wallace did the same when he was here at Las Positas. Coming from New Orleans, he didn’t know what to expect. It was his first time outside of the south and he knew virtually no one except Kelvin Hodges, his teammate and friend who decided to come with and play for the Hawks. But there were definitely people who helped him along the way. Las Positas Head basketball Coach Tony Costello recruited Wallace from New Orleans and helped him adjust to his new home. “Coach Costello definitely helped me adjust to my envi-
ronment. He is a great man and I appreciate the stuff he did for me,” said Wallace. Wallace prides himself on being a role model for those who look up to him. This was seen early in his life when he talked about his little brother. In the Naked 1 cover story, Wallace says “He’s the reason I want to do this. My struggles–I don’t quit because he’ll go through struggles and I’ll be there for him whether he’s right or wrong.” Wallace’s brother Malik plays college ball in North Carolina. He believes his brother’s guidance has helped him become a better player on the floor. “Oh yeah that’s my big bro. He has helped me with everything from drills and shooting and all of that,” said Malik. Wallace is all about helping the youth. He has completely shifted his focus from trying to get ahead himself to helping others get ahead in the hoop game. “I’m a coach now and I’m trying to help players go where they want to go. I’m trying to be the blueprint for all the kids to follow,” said Wallace. Setting a better example for the younger generation is what drives Wallace. He has been through the ups and downs both as a basketball player and as a man. He’s been everywhere and has two lifetimes worth of experience. “We have enough gangsters in New Orleans but not enough role models. I want to be a role model by working hard and showing that there is a way out for the next generation,” said Wallace in 2006. And now in 2022, Wallace is doing exactly what he said he would be doing 16 years ago. He’s helped the L.B. Landry Buccaneers turn this around after a few down years and he’s leaving his imprint on the players he’s helped send to college. “I want to see more guys go to college and get a degree. I thought my calling was to go to the NBA, but my calling is to help the next generation make it to the NBA,” said Wallace. NAKED
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Stripped Bare By Elizabeth Joy Staff wtiter A few months back, one of Livermore’s old timers I know from Livermore’s live music scene, who raised his kids here, called Las Positas College “Lost Potential,” and fumes came out of my ears. To call Las Positas “Lost Potential” is, at minimum, hurtful to me. I came to LPC twenty years ago, the fall of 2001, because I wanted to write. It had been a long time since graduating high school, being 32 years-old at the time. Starting part time, with English 100A, I took every single English class, writing class, and the LPC Express newspaper, feeding my deep love for learning, and giving my heart a place it felt at home. Throughout all the years I was there, I found a place that was a safe, healthy place to hide from reality, which I really needed to survive, and a community. LPC was my happy place. 24 nakedlpcmagazine.com
It is the place I found hope. Without the support from the teachers, staff, and the energy and hope from the students all over LPC, I can honestly say, I’m not so sure how my life may have ended up. But how do you correct the misled assumptions in that guy’s comment? Unless I accept that “lost potential,’ perhaps in others’ eyes, is what my life has been the sum of. As inadequate as I feel sometimes, and as often as I have to fight off the belief that my life was derailed and as result, I’m a loser, there is something in me that can’t. But no - and a lot of that comes from my own personal spiritual beliefs. I refuse to believe my life has no meaning because of a decision I made when I was 17. I didn’t have the parental guidance or financial luxury that a lot of kids, whose parents would call Las Positas “Lost Potential,” had. In October 2004, my daughter, Faythe, 12 at the time, called the Express office at Las Positas during an editors
meeting. My instructor, Melissa Korber, called me over to the phone. “Papa is dead, you need to come home,” she cried. My husband of 18 years, Shawn, died by suicide that day. We all did. My children were 16, 12, and 10. But ours was a slower sort of death. Hopelessness. I was employed as a social worker at Shepherd’s Gate in Livermore, where I worked with women and children who were both homeless and trying to escape abusive circumstances. In early 2004, my husband had relapsed back into his meth addiction. I had left him and was living where I worked in the new Transitional Housing apartments a week before spring break. My children had begged me to let them stay at home with papa, their grandma, and his best friend, so I felt they would be safe, and I had no right to say no yet. On my way to LPC that morning, I was swinging by to grab the rest of my things and the kids, to take them NAKED to school en route. When I pulled up to my
house, it was surrounded by police cars. My younger two kids and mother were at the neighbor’s, and my oldest, 15 at the time, was in handcuffs being questioned. The house was a bloody mess. Shawn had shot himself in his upper right arm, falling asleep and rolling over in bed, he said, while holding his finger on the trigger of his shotgun. He survived, but his arm was barely stitched together and placed in what they call a metal halo, after intense surgery. But I was done! I filed for divorce and a restraining order, refusing to let him come home or be near the children. The year prior, with a wardrobe of skeletons jam packed inside, I had joined the LPC student government. Going to a leadership conference in New Orleans helped me develop a little bit of camaraderie with the younger students, and my usual tight lipped self overshared, just a little, about my past. One of the youngsters pulled me aside and told me that I shouldn’t and directly said that I would get judged. I took it to heart, and did what I actually preferred, stuffing it all back into the dark cave. The horror of all of Livermore knowing our family’s dirty laundry after the shooting shoved me into that cave, and I became so comfortable, I stayed.
Therapy was overrated to me. As we know now, stuffing pain can slowly kill you, as can shame and self hatred. Working with abused women made me compare and minimize my own issues. But I was finally done, because I had been schooled. Literally. At LPC. The very first classes I took in 2001 were Women in Transition, and Self Defense for Women, through the community. This gave me the incentive to start taking martial arts, and English, beginning with 100A, with my all time favorite English teacher, Michael Sato. I followed him semester after semester until I had taken all the classes he taught. The very first writing assignment I did was on the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, with the theme of freedom. I was a middle-aged, returning student cliche, and grateful for it. Marrying at 17, and having my first child at 19, what would have been my college years were spent raising a baby. I found myself in unhealthy relationships with two broken people. But I tried. After the birth of our son, I thought human beings just stopped partying, and got to business. Without Google, Siri, or the D.A.R.E. program, this little Christian girl was completely oblivious to addiction and the horrors
of drugs like methamphetamine. I used meth at first, but I stopped when I became pregnant. I quickly learned how dark and cruel it was. I also learned what extreme child abuse can do to the human soul: because of my husband’s trama. Shawn never did anything halfway. His chosen delivery method was the needle, which brought on drug-induced, full tilt mania whenever he used. Months after Justin was born, I realized Shawn wasn’t going to stop. I kicked the drugs out of the house: Shawn’s drug using & selling antics resulted in our baby almost being kidnapped by a meth addicted satanist he was stealing business from, doing incantations in our yard and casting spells, and making a speed ball, tainted with white battery acid, which almost killed him. At age 21, with a hole in his heart and his aortic valve blown up, Shawn was stitched back together with a metal valve replacement, making him tick when his heart beat, and then sent back home to me. I didn’t want anything to do with him, but we had a child together. My adopted father left us when I was four and I was bound and determined to not let that happen to our kids. And, I was a poster child for codependency. After months in ICU and months of
recovering, Shawn appeared to have left that lifestyle behind. Five years and two more children later, Shawn had his first relapse. I moved from Lake Isabella, where we had been living all those years, to Livermore, to get away from him. This changed my life. Shawn was put into rehab but sweet talked his way out early and back into my life, only to relive the nightmare a few more times. A year after moving to Livermore, recovering from a mental breakdown, I went to volunteer at Shepherds Gate, but walked out the door with a job instead. I began to heal. A year after working there, Shawn relapsed again, and again. I left when he became violent. I had a second breakdown, which gave Shawn leverage to take the kids, so I came back months later. We picked up the pieces, I returned to Shepherd’s Gate, and then began my journey at LPC. But we never dealt with anything. We were both veterans at sweeping things under the rug. The decade following Shawn’s death, all four of us spiraled downward. My oldest son, Justin, was disconnected from the rest of us, wrestling with mental illness. He had both found his father when he shot himself, and was the one 26 nakedlpcmagazine.com
who found him when he was purposefully overdosing. Faythe had multiple physical and mental issues from ongoing trauma, and my youngest son, Kayne, also struggling with mental illness, especially bipolar disorder, had just started a three year prison sentence for meth related crimes, the same drug addiction that ultimately killed his father. I was that middle-aged hot mess trying to fake it til I made it, keeping denial close to my chest and people far away. I woke up every day and pretended that everything was a-okay, until I couldn’t. I finally gave up at LPC in 2008, destroying my transcripts, which once showed all straight As, replaced with Ws and even a few Fs. My mind and my body both began to scream, but I ignored it. My children and I had nobody to blame but me. Attempts at grief counseling failed; we were too raw, and family therapy only resulted in the therapist almost being jumped by my kids when he tried to shift the blame on their father. We just continued to stuff the confusion and grief inside. It felt like a t-shirt that said “Lost Potential” or “loser” would have been quite fitting for me at that point. After that, I slipped into a deeper de-
pression and lived an extremely secluded life. I was also unable to handle my job at Shepherd’s Gate. I remember telling God that I was more messed up than these women I worked with, only I was worse because I was fake and living a lie. The following year, I was thankfully laid off, and I was strung out on morphine, Adderall, and about six other pharmaceuticals for pain related issues. All the stuffing pain over the years had manifested into fibromyalgia. I started taking Adderall when I started college, and then morphine for pain because of a slipped disc injury from being thrown the first year of my marriage. This caused me to injure myself even worse. I trained in Bok Fu Do and kickboxing for three hours a day, taking out both my knees. I was so sick from all the meds, when I was offered some cannabis, and it worked, I then became dependent on that as well. After taking two years off to care for my mother, I detoxed in early 2011. I couldn’t handle social work any more, so I went into child care. I needed to be around happy healthy children, versus children being sent back into the foster care system.
As I healed, life continued. My youngest, Kayne, had started getting into trouble with the law. He was in and out of juvenile facilities from about 15 yearsold. In the summer of 2015, months after my son had gone to prison at 20 years old, my mother, more like my child relationally, died from a stroke at 86 years-old. The day of her funeral, I helped my daughter move. Faythe had been working for Monica, caring for her son Joshua, who has autism, as his Respite Care Provider. Monica had been ill for a while without a diagnosis, but had become increasingly unable to care for Joshua and his older brother, Caleb. And so Faythe moved in to care for both Monica, and the boys; however, she was suffering from depression and anxiety, as was I. Kayne’s situation wiped us both out emotionally, and the death of my mom just pulled up unprocessed emotions. My daughter somehow pulled it together but a few weeks later Monica was diagnosed with stage four metastatic cancer.
Her treatments, and thus the side effects started, and the family grief began. As low as we both felt, the seriousness of this family’s tragedy forced us to push our grief aside. Watching Monica’s anguish was all the more depressing. I became overwhelmed by suicidal thoughts. I gave my car away to a young man in Tracy. I knew that if I gave it to my daughter or a friend, I would use it, or if I sold it, it would take days to do, and I would drive it. That day, I knew that I shouldn’t drive it, not even one more time. I wanted to die, but not hurt anyone, especially my children, so I knew I would usually never be able to actually follow through with the thoughts stewing inside my brain. That day I knew I would and I knew how. One night Monica was so bad after chemo I begged God to switch us. Monica wanted to live. Her children were only 10 and 12. It felt unfair. Only by grace and prayers did my daughter and I make it through all of that. Giving social work a try again, I had just started working in Union City at
a home for disabled women three weeks prior. I quit that job and began caring for Joshua full time. After a summer of medical tests and treatments, things with Joshua seemed under control, so I came back to LPC in the Fall of 2017 to try and finish two AA degrees. In the seven years I went to LPC, even though I mangled my transcript, I had somehow acquired enough credits to obtain a degree. However, I struggled with constant distractions, being diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD.) A few weeks and many tears later, after trying pre-algebra, I walked back into the Express newspaper office, with my face tear soaked. There was Melissa Korber, sitting peacefully at her desk. When she turned to face me it was as if the decade since being in that office had been a single day. “I’m back,” I grinned sheepishly. I withdrew from my math class and joined the Express. The next semester, it was the Express and the Anthology, and the next, I was on the staff of NAKED 2022 27
Naked magazine. By the end of fall 2018, Joshua had become increasingly violent. Once he began to break glass and attack others, versus just self-injuring, things became unmanageable. I had to drop out of LPC once again-but the pandemic hit. I was stuck at home with him for two years until this past March. Protecting myself with a body shield during one of his meltdowns, I completely tore my rotator cuff along with some other bicep damage. I finally left when he broke the dining room window pounding on it. I knew I could no longer take care of Joshy. I moved away, with a huge decrease in income, but returned to Livermore to have surgery and recover. I ended up jumping on board this semester’s “magazine without a class.” And here I am again, LPC to my rescue. When I saw a revisit of Naked magazine’s 2010 edition article, “Lost Potential” was up for grabs, I asked for it. Its writer, Brenda Cruz, quoted a San Jose State University student raised in Pleasanton, Neima Khaila, “I wouldn’t go to ‘Lost Potential’ if it were the last school on earth.” I appreciated what 28 nakedlpcmagazine.com
Cruz said in the article. It may indeed be time to start defending the school’s honor.” And I am! Cruz asks, “Is there even any truth to this negative riff?” From my experience, absolutely none! In the article, LPC student Joshua Hadlok said, “I’m sick of hearing ‘Lost Potential’ and other nasty stuff about the school a lot of us don’t have a choice but to come.” He is right, but I will one up him. Some of us may not have survived the competitive high pressure element university culture produces. I wouldn’t have. In fact, studies would say many can’t. In a Harvard Political Review article by Swathi Kella Luke Tang, “a polished violist and keen mathematician who had recently been branded with the Lowellian crest,” took his own life in 2015. Kella said that the cause of this tragedy was “a tremendous mental burden that would eventually lead to self harm.” The article goes on to say how this caused the university to address the mental health needs of the students. Not everyone can manage the same sort of pressure and responsibility, nor does everyone learn the same.
For me personally, I needed the EOP&S and calm, nurturing manner of Las Positas. I found a post, “Lost Potential” on a blog: “Smythologies, Tales of Normal America,” by Dr. Karin Spirn. The Las Positas instructor said, “...once I started teaching at a community college, I saw the students did have a sense of hierarchy, a hierarchy of institutions of higher learning, and they were at the bottom. My school is called Las Positas, but the students call it, College behind Costco, Thirteenth Grade, Lost Potential.” Spirn goes on to explain how her experiences teaching at both university and community colleges proved that students get either just as good of an education, or better, because undergrads are central at community colleges. “A high percentage of the students have lived through horrible trauma: medical crises, the death of siblings and parents, acute poverty and homelessness,” says Spirn. Moderate to severe disabilities are also extremely common, but Spirn said that such students flourish with a little bit of extra time and attention.
LPC has been anything but lost potential to me, and as hard as it has been to write this, fighting off shame because I am aware of the stigma that could cling to me, it’s making me find acceptance of where I have been, and where I am now. I have lived in Livermore, Pleasanton, San Ramon, and worked in Danville. I know how the hierarchy works in such an affluent area. I know what a lot of people feel about drug use, criminals and even mental illness. I know how my life story could be treated with disdain. I rub shoulders with people who might not want anything to do with me if I didn’t clean upl. My cave has been home sweet home. Just writing this is smashing down walls and letting the light in. That terrifies me. Just writing that sentence made me burst into tears. Fear of being known, when you know how others think, has kept me small. However, it’s selfish. I know a lot of people identify with me way more than they would ever judge me. If telling my story of restoration and hope helps others feel even an ounce of hope themselves, any feelings of shame are worth it. I knew years back that if my
children were ever going to heal, I had to heal first. Writing this out is helping me let go of pain, disappointment and shame and that is definitely part of healing. I can feel it working, but I am admittedly in panic mode. The truth is, I am gearing up to go to a Conservatory of Arts next August, one year for Screenwriting, the second, Episodic. My idea has always been to write our story as fiction, so nobody knows what is true, unless you were there. I’ve even called some people up and told them I’d pay them to keep quiet. It makes me laugh now but six years ago, when I was doing that, I was dead serious. Keeping our family’s tragedy silent feels safe, but it’s really a farce. Pain and trauma leaks out of all of my family’s pores. It’s not as if it’s really hidden. And I’m not satisfied wearing a ‘Lost Potential’ t-shirt. Once, back in the day at LPC, I walked into my English instructor, Michael Sato’s office to seek advice on some assignment. I can’t remember what we spoke about except his answer, “nothing is a waste of time.” I have held onto that. Stay steady, don’t quit. Just keep going.
Everything I do matters. Nothing that I have experienced is a waste of time. It all matters. I never thought I would tattletale on myself. But it all needs to find its truth on paper too, even if it means sitting and writing to crawl my way through the emotions that I had to face. I have healed enough to process it all out and have it make sense. All the healing, all the hope, all the joy, peace, self love, love for others, acceptance, faithfulness, forgiveness, all the restoration, enabled me to keep going. I knew deep down these past twenty years, that my life could have purpose some day. I wasn’t a lost cause. My children and I could thrive one day and have potential. I believe there is hope. Being known and seen, connected, I’ve been told, is every human’s greatest need. Maybe it took a pandemic to shake humanity loose from old mindsets that push people into caves, because we all got to be on the same playing field and all feel the same pain at the same time. I know it did for me.
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To All the Books I’ve Loved Before by Cassie Kolias
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B
ooks have the ability to take you out of your reality, move you in ways that surprise you, or even in some cases reflect your reality. They can help you hold your grief in devastating times, motivate you to keep going, make you fall in love. They can inspire you, make you take action, and can take on a life of their own. Books really are a special kind of magic. Some people’s lives are measured by accomplishments, awards, or accolades. When my life is measured, I hope that it’s in books I’ve read, loved, and never stopped recommending. Since I started reading, I’ve been a book evangelist, and it’s no wonder I became a book publicist by trade. But with all the books I’ve read, there have been a handful that I never stopped recommending, that marked a significant time in my life, and reflected my emotions back at me. “Perks of Being a Wallflower,” much like every emo teen in the early 2000s, really stuck with me. It was the first book that normalized mental health, and was written to teens in a way that wasn’t talking down to them. It felt relatable in a way that no other book had. It validated the early beginnings of my anxiety, and it was one of the books that made me want to write for young adults. The quote that changed my life from “Perks” was “we accept the love we think we deserve,” and even as a naïve teenager those words hit me like a ton of bricks, so much so that I tattooed them on my arm as a reminder. After growing up on a steady diet of schools for witchcraft and wizardry, dystopian worlds, and (reluctantly) sparkling vampires, Stephen Chbosky was my gateway drug into the world of realistic teen fiction, that eventually led me to John Green’s “Looking for Alaska.” “Looking for Alaska” was the first book that I’d buy multiple copies just to give away to friends when they were looking for a book recommendation. There were so many things to like about the book. The super smart and elusive Alaska, and the way that Miles felt about her. We all wanted someone to feel that way about us. Someone who would think thoughts like “if people were rain, I was a drizzle and she was a hurricane.” When you’re young, doesn’t everyone know what unrequited longing feels like? And John Green captured it the best. It took me until my late 20s and dozens of rereads to realize that Alaska was a textbook 2000s Manic Pixie Dream Girl, and that broke my heart. So I wrote an essay about the trope that got me into grad school. And then in my final grad school essay two years later, I wrote about how Alaska had undiagnosed mental health issues and why it would have been important for readers to know that. And think of her through that lens. In 2015, around the time my sister survived a school shooting at her college in Santa Barbara, I started my first real attempt at writing a young adult book. I wrote about a girl who survived a school shooting, and was struggling with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Writing something close to home felt like a way to try and explain the inexplicable to myself. Trying to understand. Around that time and the years following it, I found myself picking up many books on gun violence, or PTSD, but nothing stuck quite like “Long Way Down” by Jason Reynolds. “Long Way Down” is such a unique book. It’s told in verse, and the entire story takes place on a single elevator ride. I’d never read anything like it before, and the way it gripped me was a
feeling I won’t forget. I ended up applying to my MFA program with that story, and Jason Reynolds became one of my four amazing mentors over two years. And my thesis was a full draft of that manuscript. In 2018, during my first year of grad school, my mom’s cancer came back. Throughout her battle with cancer, she remained ever the optimist, sometimes to the detriment of my sister and I. We thought she’d get better, had no idea how bad it really was, and by the time we knew that we were going to lose her she had lost her ability to speak because of a seizure. When she died in April, there were so many conflicting emotions. Grief and anger really do live in the same house. A few days after she died, I did the only thing I knew how to do – pick up a book. “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed was the single book that helped me to understand my grief. I felt like the author knew exactly how I felt, and while I was reading the book I felt like she was standing right there, holding my grief along with me. Every year, around the anniversary of my mom’s death, I try to revisit the book. It helps me to make space for my grief, because even if I try to ignore it, my body reminds me. When I graduated from my MFA program after two years, it was January 2020. Truly the last time I was able to celebrate something and not feel any crippling health anxiety. Sometimes I see pictures from that time, and I miss the not-knowing. The first book I picked up after I graduated was “Normal People” by Sally Rooney. By that time everyone was on the hype train for Sally Rooney, and I was just late hopping on. I read “Normal People” before I read “Conversations with Friends.” And it just hit me like a ton of bricks. The writing wasn’t flowery, but just beautiful. Quotes like, “It’s not like this with other people,” would stop me in my tracks so that I could let them sink in. The emotions felt so real, that I was feeling them along with the characters, and because I was able to drop into that, it helped me to escape what was going on in the world. And then having the show come out that summer just sealed the deal. I couldn’t stop revisiting the sad Irish people. “Little Weirds” took me by total surprise, when I came to it in late 2019. I was attending BookExpo in New York and saw that Jenny Slate was doing a signing. I met her, got an advanced copy of the book and assumed it was another celebrity essay book that would just be a quick, fun read. It sat on my shelf for a few months, but when I finally picked it up, I couldn’t put it down. It’s the furthest thing from a celebrity essay book. It actually is a book that exists in so many places, yet no genres seem to fit. It’s not fully nonfiction, because it’s overflowing with poetry, but it’s not quite poetry because they’re are some really long chapters. It just exists outside the lines, and maybe that’s partially what continues to draw me to it. “Yes, there have been lots of feelings that have felt like breaths in with no out breaths.” Since 2019, I’ve read it at least eight times, and I’ve listened to the audiobook more than twice. The book even made it to my wedding, with my sister reading the last page as part of our ceremony. Reading “Little Weirds” is like someone just showing you their heart. It’s bursting at the seams with magic, and delicious metaphors. Reading it just feels like being alive. For me, reading is what it means to be alive. Without books, life would feel bleak, dull, and without a heartbeat. With any-
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Love in the room A conversation with a couple whose story starts at LPC
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ill Tanner and Laura Cameron met in room 2409 in 2014. This dialogue recounts their love story from classmates to co-workers to crushes to husband and wife.
Will: Honestly, I would say this is pretty far from your typical love story. It all started because I missed the majority of a class and came in late. I was taking over as the editor-in-chief of “The Express,” and our outgoing copy editor, Ben, came up to me and said that we needed to grab someone from the class to be our copy editor for next year. Laura: I was taking Marcus Thompson’s Feature Writing class,
which Will was also technically in, but he almost never showed up. On this particular day, he was there, and Marcus gave us all a copy editing exercise: He had copied an article from “Sports Illustrated,” inserted a bunch of errors, and gave us each a printed copy to look over. We each got one point for every error we found and corrected. By the end of the exercise, not only did I have the highest score of anyone in the class — more than doubling the second-highest score — I had found errors in the article that Marcus hadn’t even put there. As soon as class was over, Will and Ben began literally begging me to apply for the copy editor position. And who can say no to desperate J-students?
starting other members of “The Express” staff had started a betting pool on how long it would be before the two of us ended up together. I don’t know who won that pool, but if they’re reading this, I just want them to know that I think we deserve a cut of the winnings.
Will: One of the days we were working on the paper, I don’t remember exactly how, a few of us started talking about a forum site we all used. Laura had mentioned some posts she had made there about her prior job. Because we had worked in similar fields, it was recommended I check out that channel and maybe post some things of my own there. I had glanced over at the screen and happened to see her username. Since I had work in the evenings that week, I figured when it was slow, I could take a look at some of her stories. One of my co-workers at the time and I had been talking about a few things including the relationship issues that I was going through. While we headed to the break room, I went to go check the forums. I came across one of her posts and when looking to find another of hers, I stumbled into a comment about me. Laura: I had figured the crush would fade over time, but it did not. My feelings for Will grew stronger as we worked together on the paper. One night I vented my frustrations onto the internet in a post that was very, very angsty. Think “overwrought teenage diary entry” levels of angst. I had no idea that Will knew my username for that site, so I never imagined he would actually see it.
Will: Over the summer there were a few staff meetings where Will: It had been about three or four months since I had gotten we discussed some ideas for the upcoming semester. Laura and I had bonded a bit over our love of space and were becoming friends. During that summer I went on a trip to the Philippines to go visit my, at the time, long-distance girlfriend. After coming back, I was happy to have gotten the experience to go to another country for the first time in a few years. But there were some cracks starting to show in the relationship while I was there, and after a month or so back it wasn’t quite the same. It is tough being the one to put work into the relationship but not having your partner do the same.
Laura: I developed a crush on Will pretty quickly. But I knew he was in a long-distance relationship, so I didn’t try to make any moves. I didn’t want to be “that girl.” Though either I was not as good at hiding my feelings as I thought or the others had already clued in to how good of a fit Will and I would end up being, because I learned much later that within two weeks of the term
back from the Philippines, and it was becoming clearer that the relationship was on the rocks. The aforementioned one side putting in work was even more evident. My co-worker and I didn’t quite sit down and do a pro/con list but did a more verbal discussion, and it became clear where that relationship was headed. Cue a very awkward talk with Laura a few days later. We both decided we had feelings for each other and that we would like to see where that would go. That night I spoke with my long-distance girlfriend and broke things off. The next day we started dating, and that’s been that. We realized really early on that we worked really well together and figured out quickly that this was going to be a long-term relationship. There are still some silly little things we do that began way back when the relationship started. Nothing about our story fits the conventional love story motif and honestly it wouldn’t be us if it did. Hell, even the proposal didn’t go as planned, but we’ve been married for two years now, and wouldn’t change a thing.
Las Positas Co Journalism al
Where are they
ollege lumni:
y now?
Alton Richardson When did you attend Las Positas College? 2006-2011
Which productions were you a part of and what positions did you hold? The Express: Sports Editor, Photo Editor, Columnist w/ Dear Altie Naked Magazine: Photo Editor, Editor in Chief Radio Las Po: Radio Show Host
Photo courtesy of Alton Richardson
Social media/web links: @agrphoto www.altonri hardson.com
Which article/project were you most proud of during your
Any awards or recognition you’d like to brag about?
time in the journalism department?
In 2016, I was included in Climbing Magazines “16 Climbing
I’m most proud of helping to develop the concept for Na-
Photographers You Should Know About.” I’ve also had a cov-
ked Magazine and that it is still alive and well!
er for Climbing Magazine AND been on the cover as well!
What did you do after LPC?
What has changed about you the most since LPC?
After LPC, I started working full time in the rock climbing industry, first in a warehouse then moving into a Design/ Marketing position with a relatively large outdoor brand. Finally leaving in 2014 to go freelance for myself. What do you do now professionally? Now I make a living as an adventure and advertising photographer and filmmaker within the outdoor industry, shooting rock climbing and skiing mostly. I work closely with many top outdoor brands and publications and am also the Art Director for “California Climber Magazine,”
Less hair for sure. Other than that, not a whole lot. What did you take away from your time in LPC’s journalism department that still guides you in life today? Honestly too many things to count, I can think of specifics from each of my instructors over the years. However, I was always encouraged to go a bit against the grain while trying to still stay within the realm of relevancy to the assignment. I have taken this into my professional career and used that to fuel my creativity and keep myself motivated
which I started after LPC.
through the darkest of times as a freelancer.
For fun?
Words of wisdom for prospective or current students?
For fun, if I’m not climbing or skiing, I’m likely out on a river
Take big risks, take chances and don’t be afraid to put
fly fishing, riding my bike really far up into the mountains
something out that you believe in. If and when you get
of Colorado or at the skatepark trying to catch the wave of
push back or negative feedback, use that as fuel to do
youthfulness.
better on the next opportunity. If you believe in it and it matters to you, it probably matters to others as well. Bend, don’t break.
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Trevin Smith When did you attend Las Positas College? 2010-2015
Which productions were you a part of and what positions did you hold? The Express: Arts & Entertainment Editor (3 semesters) Naked Magazine: Editor in Chief, Spring 2015 Social media/web links: Twitter: @TrevinS_media https://www.thetrevinsmith.com/ Photo courtesy of Trevin Smith
Which article/project were you most proud of during your time in the journalism department? I wrote a long feature piece following an LPC student on a weight loss journey. Her family had threatened to kick her out of their home unless she lost a certain amount of weight in a certain time. Their excuse for this abuse was a marriage proposal they hoped would eventually happen, which she was also not happy about. That deeply personal journey for her was a testament to her deep trust in me to tell her story with dignity. We interviewed for months. She even let our team take her on location to make images for the story. It remains not only still remains one of the best stories I’ve ever written, but we remain close friends to this day. What did you do after LPC? I transferred to San Jose State University, where I majored in journalism and went on to begin making short documentary films. After SJSU I began a master’s program at Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism where I studied documentary filmmaking full-time. What do you do now professionally? I’m a Producer/Editor at VERIFY in New York, where I produce daily video content that fact checks claims made online. Our reporting relies on fact-based institutions, professionals and experts to help our viewers navigate the growing climate of misinformation. I’m a teaching assistant at Columbia’s Journalism School, where I assist students in the Documentary specialization as they begin their journey as filmmakers. I’m also producing documentary films independently. I have begun reporting for multiple projects I plan to begin next spring. For fun? Producing films is one of my biggest passions in my life, so I couldn’t be luckier that it’s my actual job. But in the little free time I have, my
girlfriend and I have a deep love for cooking. Any awards or recognition you’d like to brag about? My first film “Not/Inspirational” screened for the first time this summer at the New York City Independent Film Festival. Watching people watch a film I made was one of the greatest experiences of my life. What has changed about you the most since LPC? I have confidence in myself now that was simply nonexistent back when I was at LPC. I was at times unmotivated and even a little lost then. Looking back on how far I’ve come since, it’s difficult for me to believe I’m the same person. But I couldn’t be more thankful for the space LPC gave me to work through those changes. I’m a better person for it today, and I wouldn’t have changed anything about my time there. What did you take away from your time in LPC’s journalism department that still guides you in life today? All of my reporting today roots back to LPC. The way I report, write, interview and edit was all taught there. The other day I was interviewing a scientist and at the end of the interview I realized so much of how I question, even how I time my questions and follow ups, was taught to me at LPC. I’ve worked with and learned from journalists from all over the world, but those core skills I rely on every day as a journalist, I owe to LPC’s journalism department. Words of wisdom for prospective or current students? You are entitled to nothing. Journalism is 99% hard work and 1% talent. Put your trust in hard work. Talented, good journalists lose their jobs and leave journalism every day. Be thankful for every story you get to tell. Help others and you will only get better yourself.
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Bekka Wiedenmeyer When did you attend Las Positas College? 2010-2014 (I think!)
Which productions were you a part of and what positions did you hold?
I served as staff writer, news editor, managing editor and editor-in-chief over the course of many semesters with The Express. I also did one semester with Anthology as an editor.
Photo courtesy of Bekka Wiedenmeyer
Which article/project were you most proud of during your time in the journalism department? The Ted Kaye profile in The Express from my last semester at Las Positas. Without a doubt. Some time after I graduated and moved on to other adventures, I reached back out to Ted. I reintroduced myself over the phone, and Ted said, “How could I forget Bekka Wiedenmeyer?”That happened years ago and still to this day brings a smile to my face. What did you do after LPC? I transferred to California Baptist University in Southern California to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and New Media, with a concentration in Broadcast Journalism. What do you do now professionally? I work for a hedge fund in New York City, hiring interns and junior-level talent for our discretionary investing business units. I’m also a staff contributor for The Registry SF, a real estate news organization based out of the San Francisco Bay Area. For fun? I’m an avid movie goer and amateur basketball fan. Two years ago I saw my first basketball game at Madison Square Garden — Knicks vs. Cavs — and I haven’t been the same since. Any awards or recognition you’d like to brag about? Serving as editor-in-chief of The Banner Student Newspaper my final semester at CBU was one of the prouder achievements of my collegiate career. After graduating, I was accepted into the Disney College Program and moved to Florida for two years to dabble in photography. As a huge Disney fan, I do also like to brag about that bullet point on my resume. I realize this isn’t an award or a recogni-
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tion, but top of the list would have to be moving to New York City three years ago. It’s been a dream of mine since I was a little girl, and the best decision I’ve ever made. I’m extremely proud of how far I’ve come since I got here, in every sense of the phrase. What has changed about you the most since LPC? I’ve certainly grown up a lot since my LPC days. I was always the youngest in the room at LPC so felt as if I had a lot to prove. I’m 25 years old now, and my confidence in my abilities has grown significantly. What did you take away from your time in LPC’s journalism department that still guides you in life today? Marcus always told us, “You can’t hustle a hustler.” As you grow up, you realize a lot of people try to hustle you, and since moving to New York City that’s definitely turned out to be true. I constantly have a voice telling me in the back of my head that I can’t be hustled, and while it may not be exactly in the context Marcus was using, I’ve stood up for myself and what I believe to be right because of that. Thanks, Marcus! Words of wisdom for prospective or current students? The experiences you will have at Las Positas will truly mold you for what you want to do or where you want to go in life. To this day, I am proud to tell people about my roots in community college. I constantly tell stories straight from the newsroom, even though they happened years ago. My time at LPC was so valuable to where I am and who I am today, and I wouldn’t exchange those experiences for anything. For prospective students: Enjoy your time at LPC, learn from the people around you, and be prepared to take what you’ve learned and apply it to the rest of your life.
Aretha Welch
When did you attend Las Positas College?
I completed my AA in Liberal Arts (Mass Communication) as a part-time student from 2012 to 2016.
Which productions were you a part of and what positions did you hold (The Express, Naked, Anthology, Radio Las Positas)? All of the above. I did all the journalism things (lol). Social media/web links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aretha-welch-25585018/ Photo courtesy of Aretha Welch
Which article/project were you most proud of during your time in the journalism department? Our Veterans Day article in “The Express” highlighting survivors of Military Sexual Trauma. It was a very important story that needed to be told. We received a lot of pushback from campus veterans but usually as a journalist pushback from organizations and special interest groups indicates you are reporting something significant. Journalism requires you to have a fierce desire to defend the interests of the underdog, even if it means going against the “big man on campus” (pun intended). What did you do after LPC? Which university did you transfer to? What was your major? I completed my bachelors in New Media: Journalism and Marketing at Southern New Hampshire University . I am currently wrapping up an online MicroMasters in Management from Arizona State. What do you do now professionally? I am a Public Information Officer for the state, specifically the California Energy Commission where I lead the organization’s social media communication efforts. I also founded and run a small marketing agency called Social Superhumans, based in Sacramento. For fun? I still write for a few Bay Area independent publications from time to time, mostly on issues which affect communities of color. I am also a skincare junkie, a certified skincare coach and I spend an obscene amount of time giving skin care tips for people of color on my IG. I am currently setting up a skincare store, which centers on
melanated skin and the products and ingredients that work best for our skin concerns. Any awards or recognition you’d like to brag about? I received two journalism scholarships while at Las Po. They came at a time when I was going through a divorce and needed a reminder to stay the course at school. What has changed about you the most since LPC? I am a mom now. I have a 3 year-old. When he was born, I got very interested in climate change, clean energy and the fight for healthy air for future generations. Hence why I work in the field of climate change and clean energy communication. It marries my passion for mass communications with my passion for a cleaner, greener tomorrow. What did you take away from your time in LPC’s journalism department that still guides you in life today? One journalism instructor, Marcus Thompson, told me a hard working, consistent person can easily outperform someone who is talented but inconsistent every time. It’s something that I keep top of mind whenever I feel my discipline waning or myself procrastinating. I remind myself that resting solely on my talent will get me nowhere if I don’t dig my heels in and do the work. Words of wisdom for prospective or current students? Finish what you start. It’s ok to pivot, take longer than planned and even take a break here and there, but get it done. Also, nothing looks better in your 50s than sunscreen in your 20s. #TrueStory
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Jason Leskiew When did you attend Las Positas College? 2011 to 2014
Which productions were you a part of? Naked, The Express, Anthology
Photo by Brianna Guillory
Which article/project were you most proud of during your time in the journalism department?
Any awards or recognition you’d like to brag about?
It wasn’t mine, but the editor in chief at the time, Travis Danner,
First place in Sports Game Story from the SF Peninsula Press Club.
interviewed the college president, who was pretty aggressive in
Tough competition, including writers much more experienced than
his demeanor while defending his actions regarding something I
I. Moreover, it was surrounding a horse race — nobody I’ve ever
think he was clearly wrong in. I can’t remember specifics, but it was
known has “covered” a horse race, let alone warned recognition for
a stand-up job by Danner and emphasized the importance of the
such.
Express on the LPC campus. What did you do after LPC? Which university did you transfer to? What was your major? I left LPC to write for a startup, SFBay.ca. I continued learning on the job and eventually moved up to Sports Director. What do you do now professionally? I work in construction. I covered sports and didn’t want my income tied to municipalities which clearly aren’t funding new stadiums.
What has changed about you the most since LPC? The color of my hair and my sleep patterns. What did you take away from your time in LPC’s journalism department that still guides you in life today? Honestly it will probably always be the professors; the dedication is unparalleled and so was the entire experience. I started at LPC as a business major. Seems like such a silly idea, now that I have experienced the journalism department at LPC and the world of journalism as a career.
Plus, hedge funds continue to increase their stake in journalism. Words of wisdom for prospective or current students? For fun?
Listen to Marcus. Have him show you, if you should be so lucky.
I work with wood, play fantasy sports, and my favorite hobby will
Shadowing him helped me more than anything. But also, work on
always be being a dad.
your interview game. The story will start to write itself once you have the material.
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Mitchell Mylius When did you attend Las Positas College? I attended Las Positas College from 2012 to 2016.
Which productions were you a part of and what positions did you hold? The Express: Photographer, Writer and Editor in Chief Naked: Photographer and Writer Social media/web links: Instagram: @mitchellmylius Website: www.mitchellmylius.com Photo courtesy of Mitchell Mylius
Which article/project were you most proud of during your time in the journalism department?
Any awards or recognition you’d like to brag about?
The project I was most proud of was representing the Journalism
Shot Marcus Thompson II’s author photo in his debut book.
Club at our School-wide club council and winning us some money to use for something. I forgot what we used it for honestly, but was so sick. Made a sweet PowerPoint, and since I was cool with everybody they loved me and I won the vote to have it. I could tell who
What has changed about you the most since LPC? I am more patient. More professional. I’m not confused about what I want anymore at least not as much as I was at LPC.
didn’t vote yes, and I still remember them to this day…
What did you do after LPC? Which university did you transfer to? What was your major? I transfered to San Francisco State University for Photojournalism
What did you take away from your time in LPC’s journalism department that still guides you in life today? As much as it doesn’t feel like it, extra curricular work is worth it
with a minor in Anthropology. Words of wisdom for prospective or current students? What do you do now professionally? I am a freelance Photographer and Director.
Think about what you are going to publish because your name will always be on it. Don’t look at this time as just hours that need to go by so you can go home. This is work that can build your resume and
For fun?
show potential employers how dope you were in college. Also don’t
I like to skateboard, play golf and ride my bike. Been addicted
call your work “stuff”. It’s your work and you should stand behind it
to chess lately.
as such and be proud of it.
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