College students have a number of barriers that can deter them from completing college.
The student housing crisis is one of those many factors.
The situation has gotten worse with students having to resort to crashing with friends, sleeping in cars, or having to consider living on the water.
And with the passing of Senate Bill 330, the Los Angeles Community College District has been developing a housing program to help both low-income students and employees.
But Pierce College needs to do more to curb the housing
crisis.
According to the LA Times, “an estimated 417,000 students lack stable places to sleep,” with 20% of community college students accounting for the survey.
In an article by the East Los Angeles College Campus News, “as many as fifty-five percent of LACCD students currently experience housing insecurity, and nineteen percent experienced homelessness at some point during 2020.”
So far, $327,777 has been allocated to Student Food and Housing of Pierce’s General Fund in the proposed LACCD
Final Budget for 2023-2024. Valley College however has allocated more than $400,000 in the same proposed budget. Pierce could be doing more.
According to the Pierce website, there are resources to help students experiencing homelessness or housing insecurities. However, locations regarding the Shower of Hope Housing Program are nonexistent in the San Fernando Valley.
So what can Pierce do?
It could set up a small parking lot that acts as a Safe Parking Space for students living in their cars for a small fee.
It can think about repurposing the Village to become an actual village where students in need can live.
It can even consider using the more than one million dollars on refurbishing cross country to build dorm rooms.
It’s tonal whiplash to hear California set to become the 4th largest economy while students are struggling to find a roof over their heads. Pierce can be the trailblazer that the LACCD needs to kickstart a housing program that helps more than just Pierce students.
“I think she is a good role model. She inspires little girls, their dreams, whatever they could be, when they grow up.” - Kammi Maldonado - Nursing major
For as long as I can remember, I have seen the ghosts of the city. No, the city is not haunted, but many people believe that it is. People often walk past people who are homeless as if they are ghosts.
As I was preparing for my Bat Mitzvah in 2018, I decided to make the ghosts that I have seen my whole life visible to everyone who was willing to open their eyes.
I decided to collect enough items to assemble over 1,200 care packages for the Los Angeles homeless community.
This has been my main focus
when it comes to community service. Watching people asking for help while others just walk past them as if they don’t exist. It is inhumane.
Bundles of Kindness is a non profit organization that is based in Los Angeles. Our mission is to provide substantial care packages to the Los Angeles homeless community.
These packages are delivered with the cooperation of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, food pantries, shelters, teen drop-in centers, safe parking programs, and directly to people who are living on the streets of LA.
Care packages typically include: blankets, hats, gloves, scarves, hand warmers, umbrellas, rain ponchos, t-shirts, socks, underwear, flip-flops, toiletries, facial wipes, dental hygiene products, menstrual products, sunscreen, individually wrapped shelf stable food, water, juice, and information about community resources.
Additionally, sleep/yoga mats, pet supplies, jackets, sweatshirts, and shoes are made available. Bundles of Kindness blossomed because I found other people who could also see and
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Managing Editor Rachael Rosenberg
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understand the ghosts. Open your eyes and allow yourself to see the ghosts.
“I guess for the Barbie doll, in the beginning, it set unrealistic expectations a bit. I guess you can say it inspired confidence, so I’d be leaning more towards the good side of it.” - Andrew Ojeda - Electrical engineering major
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By Rachael Rosenberg Managing EditorPhotographers:
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“Yes, it’s a good role model. People who like Barbie that much, probably like playing with it, or it’s something they want to keep or it reminds them of how they were little.” -Justin CandelarioMusic major
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Jeff Favre
“Eeveryone has their own opinion on how it would be interpreted. I think Barbies now show a better example because they have different types and shapes and views of what it looks like.” -Tionne Whiteside - Childhood education major
Quotes gathered by Raquel Frohlich
Photos by Myraneli Fabian 6201 Winnetka Ave.
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Greta Gerwig, director of the “Barbie” movie, thinks Barbie is a feminist icon to show womanhood is a superpower. The director’s take on the film is to showcase a new kind of feminist idol who can teach everyone to be a girl boss.
The “Barbie” movie was this summer’s massive box-office hit that features feminist qualities in a bubblegum pink world—participating in gender norms and unrealistic body standards raises the question: Barbie shows feminist rates by being her true self in the movie. Barbie is a career-inspiring woman stuck in a world where women are objects.
The film perfectly describes women’s intuition and how men are the higher archetype in the real world and women are treated as below them. Barbie is a strong female character who takes chances and doesn’t let any man control what she does in her independent life.
The Barbie doll is a feminist icon because today, many dolls are not just skinny but have a wide range of body and skin types since not all women look the same. It puts apart the criticism that the Barbie doll is fat-phobic and gives women eating disorders.
Women look for someone they can look up to who wants to be independent of their male counterparts. Is Barbie a feminist trying to speak for women to have career goals versus being supported by a male figure who controls them?
In 2010, A. Harringer presented results
from a study in which preschool girls were given different game pieces: thin, average-weight. It tells how little girls are more interested in a slim Barbie doll than an overweight doll.
It shows the feminist qualities of showcasing the downfalls of body shaming and how it can lead to harmful realities of mental illnesses.
Barbie, the doll herself, has a thin physique, but the actress in the movie version looks much healthier.
Barbie has been widely regarded as a successful sum- mer movie release since The New York Times wrote after the movie’s release that Barbie is undoubtedly a woman young girls would want to be like, given the option.
The Barbie movie helped bring her back as not just a dollturned-movie star but a vision of a woman fighting to be fearless.
The article then details why the original Barbie had low self-esteem, and today, they have made women feel equal in their own space. Another fact is why Barbie is a feminist icon in 2023, even though every girl wants to live in a world where everything is always perfect.
The “Barbie” movie continues to soar financially; many people enjoy the lovable doll returning in stores worldwide. By learning Barbie herself is a self-righteous queen despite gender norms, discovering your place in the world is the best thing for a woman in our own Barbie World.
By Rachael Rosenberg Managing Editor
From the moment of her invention in 1959, Barbie has made an extreme impact on many young girls for a lot of reasons, none of them positive.
Barbie’s presentation has been considered the “ideal” version of what it means to be a woman.
According to a study by Harmony Healthcare IT, “Eighty two percent of women think Barbie dolls portray unrealistic body images to girls and women.”
Those unrealistic beauty standards are introduced at the most impressionable time in a young girl’s life. An abundant amount of girls who have played with a Barbie at one point or another now can grow body image issues.
Barbie has shown that girls are always supposed to be “perfect.” This is not what girls should have bouncing around in their mind as they are growing up. They need to see the realistic side of life and what humans actually look like as opposed to a physically unhealthy and unrealistic person.
Writer for the Student Edge publication, Kathy Zheng shared the standards Barbie can represent, “She never suffers from a bad-hair day and her silhouette is an outrageously faultless hour-glass” Zheng said. “She has smudge-proof lipstick and teeters precariously on a pair of stilettos.”
In addition to Barbie related body image issues, Barbie has dented the mindset of young girls regarding what they can or can’t do as they dream about their future career.
Theamericanscholar.org stat-
ed that Psychologists Aurora Sherman of Oregon State University and Eileen Zurbriggen of the University of California, Santa Cruz conducted an experiment. After five minutes of 37 girls from the ages of four to seven playing with Baby Doctor Barbie, Fashion Barbie and Mrs. Potato Head, the girls who played with the Barbies could not imagine themselves in as many male-dominated fields as the girls who played with Mrs. Potato Head.
Yes, there are many different Career Barbies, but that doesn’t avoid the fact that Barbie has been sexualized. Her feet can only fit into high heels. Her outfits reinforce how women have been sexualized in work environments because of what they wear.
According to Rollingstones. com, not only are Barbie Dolls being sexualized, but they were created after another doll: Bild-Lilli. Bild-Lilli’s story involves her working as a sex worker among men who were on the older side.
Kids look up to adults, siblings, their favorite tv show characters and the dolls that they play with in their childhoods. Finding out that your favorite doll was based on a sex worker is beyond disappointing and discouraging. Advertising a toy that was created based on inspiration from a sex doll is not what parents want their kids to be exposed to.
In addition to Barbie’s sex trafficking, body issue inducing and sexualizing, she has also been programmed to sound stupid. When Teen Talk Barbie was created, one of the 270 sayings that she was programmed to say was, “math class is tough.”
Women are already harassed in school for not being stereotypically smart. It isn’t necessary to glamorize the hurtful acts of bullying.
New faculty hirings, upcoming events on campus and language amendments were among a variety of topics discussed and presented in the first Academic Senate meeting on Monday.
After calling the Sept. 11 meeting to order but before roll call, Academic Senate President Margarita Pillado read aloud a distillation of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and asked for all to observe a minute of silence.
Following the opening items of the meeting, Pierce College
By Christon Basham ReporterFor most, bots are the annoying little misunderstood monsters responsible for forcing human beings to prove, with varying degrees and limited levels of success, they are human.
But few probably know they are increasingly being used to register for classes on community college campuses. It is a national issue exacerbated by the necessity for asynchronous learning and online classes.
In 2021, Patrick Perry, then director of policy, research and data with The California Student Aid Commission, alerted the community college system that bots had filled 65,000 fake applications in 105 in-person colleges. All the applicants fit a specific demographic–first time students older than 30 earning less than $40,000 a year seeking a two-year degree.
“We were kind of scratching our heads going, ‘Did or didn’t 60,000 extra older adult students really attempt to apply to community colleges here in the last few months,’” Perry told reporters for the LA Times back then.
But Pierce College Vice President for Student Services Jason Cifra began noticing something was not quite right as far back as 2019.
“I was working at the district office in Peralta where we’d get
students who applied but would then never register,” Cifra said.
“And in the follow-up we were looking at like ‘oh, this person says they’re in California but the IP address for application was in Russia or China.’”
This semester, admissions are up, but the problem remains. The bots, it seems, have only gotten more sophisticated. They are not only now successfully registering for classes, they have apparently been able to breach protective fire walls of classroom chat sessions.
“We had an instance where a bot got into one of the chat rooms and was actually posting links to porn,” said Distance Education Coordinator Wendy Bass.
Media Arts Department Chair Jill Connelly, whose class was disrupted by a bot sharing porn, said that students are struggling to enroll in the classes they need because space is taken up by the bots.
“It used to be that you could tell who the bots were because they didn’t do assignments,” Connelly said. “Now the bots are actually doing assignments.”
A solution suggested was to drop students who don’t show up or are in some way active in the first week of any given semester, regardless of reason.
“We’re also looking into catching it on a state level before it ever even gets to us,” Cifra said.
that has been initiating the development of a sustainability master plan for Pierce College, and mentioned a framework, STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System), they are utilizing.
“We want to know what we are already doing to meet the criteria for these sustainability efforts,” said Gendron. “And then, probably more importantly, what can we do or maybe what should we do?”
to “...and may provide teleconference accommodation…”
After a vote that allowed for an amendment of the original language—and before the language was changed to “may” without objections—Jeff Favre motioned for the words “will provide a teleconference accommodation” to be amended to “encouraged to provide a teleconference accommodation” but the motion did not pass.
Interim President Ara Aguiar was the first to speak, and she provided updates on the COVID-19 status in the community, the addition of class sections in the fall semester, managing bots in classes and faculty hiring.
Interim President Aguiar also announced two scheduled workshops.
“We do have on Sept. 21 an active shooter workshop,” said Aguiar. “Then we are going to have what they are calling now a situational de-escalation prevention workshop, which means you kind of manage the classroom with issues that escalate to the point where you’d like to ask support there, how to go about it as faculty members, if you’re in the classroom or on Canvas.”
Pierce Council Chair Brian Gendron briefly spoke about a new standing committee—the Sustainability Committee—
“For example, one of the areas relates to academic courses,” added Gendron. “And so, we’re trying to determine—do we have courses that are grounded in the concepts of sustainability? Do we have courses that help build knowledge about sustainability or introduce students to sustainability concepts?”
After, Career Center Director Judy Lam announced an upcoming Oct. 4 major fair, and Transfer Center Director Sunday Salter presented on transfer programs, dates and deadlines.
As the second Action Item in this meeting’s agenda, a sentence in the Brown Act Modality for Senate Meetings was amended after much discussion. The following sentence, “The Senate and its standing committees will conduct its meetings in person and will provide a teleconference accommodation for remote public commentary, college reports, and other informational items and for observation of the proceedings” was amended
Senate Member Dale Fields, who voted in favor of Favre’s motion, commented on the modes of accessibility of the Academic Senate meetings to the community.
“I think it is important to allow the public to get in there in the most effective ways possible for them, and I think that I come to this as primarily a teacher, where we are trying to offer as much openness to our students if we possibly can,” said Fields.
“And so therefore, I look on this in the same way—that we should offer the greatest opportunity to our community members, and to other members not of our department, of our meeting, to join us to see what’s going on,” Fields added, though they also recognized that running meetings with an OWL (online web learning) camera can be an additional burden.
Towards the end of the meeting, Senator Thomas Klein presented on the legislative process in California and how it can affect academia.
College districts across LAUSD have helped provide students who are not currently housed with living spaces for safety and studying.
Pierce College teamed up with five organizations to provide homeless students shelter, food, and beds across the city in all nine school districts beginning last year. The program helps over 100 students in a period when homelessness has become a hot button issue in the city of Los Angeles. The goal for these housing
developments is to provide living spaces for students to successfully work on their education. LA Room and Board, which has three separate locations throughout the county (one of which is in Woodland Hills), will set up roommates to board with each other and provide access for meals and support them with case management.
Brahma Bodega Coordinator Geremy Mason said students who are housed in these programs often have, “problems with parents and family members.”
Shelters across the district are not ideal study environments
for students according to Vice President of Student Services Jason Cifra.
“They are very chaotic and may have different groups of people in there who are not necessarily students,” Cifra said. “Such concerns regard personal safety and personal space.”
But it’s not just problems at home which contribute to hardship of the students; Los Angeles prices for rent and housing have a reputation for being expensive.
“Some of it is situational and some of it happens to be a matter of economics,” Cifra said. Financial worries are a concern for the students and it is
felt statewide as Pierce staff member Marcos Garcia expresses hope for long term benefits for these housing developments including the prospect of roommates.
“Even if you’re not homeless, it’s really hard to live in California,” Garcia said.
The school district provides part of the funding for the housing while each individual college provides an amount based on the number of students housed the previous year.
“Colleges that had less beds occupied last year will probably get a little less this year,” Mason said.
Private donations have not
been set up.
While recent local programs have been implemented by the city to provide homeless citizens proper shelter, it is too soon for any substantial analysis to be established to the effectiveness of these programs.
In June, it is estimated the homeless population experienced a 9% rise throughout Los Angeles County according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority
The program has enough funding to provide for the academic year and there are hopes expressed it will be extended into the following year.
Four decades without a men’s soccer program has come to an end. The last team on campus had Rudy Dompe as the head coach, with Frank Parodi his assistant. Among the players was Jose Perez, the brother of women’s soccer head coach Adolfo Perez. Since then a lot has changed. Several sports have been added including the women’s program that began in 2001 under Adolfo. After the announcement was made, spots quickly filled the summer class. For new head coach Julio Castillo, it is a honor, but also a responsibility.After three games, the team is 2-1, with wins over Moorpark and East LA College. The only loss came in the season opener against LA City. Pedro Perez Jr. has scored three goals this season and the top goal scorer.
Pierce College has a new commercial music professor this fall semester.
Mark Cross was invited to do a guest lecture on commercial music and music production at Pierce last spring. After hearing of a full-time opening he decided to apply. He is now the school’s newest professor for the music department committed to his student’s success and contributing to the growth of the music department.
Cross has a diverse background in the music production industry. He has teaching experience from California State University Northridge and Berklee College of Music in Boston. Cross has worked on several albums and scores for several films. Some of which have been Oscarnominated.
Cross’ goal at Pierce is to prepare his students for a career in the music industry, specifically in commercial music in case they find themselves working on music for different forms of media, such as a show, video game, film or an album for a celebrity.
“The main goal of the music department and I think Pierce here in general is student success,” said Cross. “We are preparing the students so they can transfer to another school to pursue higher education. Also, because we just so happen to be five miles from the entertainment capital of the world.”
Professionally, one of Cross’ biggest achievements is his work on the Disney Pixar movie “Cars.”
“I worked on the score and songs for the movie ‘Cars,’” said Cross. “Randy Newman was the composer and we would record the orchestra and whatever he had written. When I think of ‘Cars,’ that was a year and a half of my life because it is animation. The animation was just stick figures and sketches. It was like a storyboard, and then we would score maybe a third of the movie.”
Cross expressed how interesting and fun it was to see the movie develop from simple sketches to more distinguishable cartoons every time he would meet with Pixar to work on the soundtrack for “Cars.”
Cross has contributed to the music program at Pierce by helping set up the tools, resources and inventory after moving to the Village from the Music Building, as well as being involved in the music and school programs.
Wendy Mazon shares Cross’ involvement at Pierce before officially becoming a professor on campus.
“He’s already gone above and beyond in several situations,” Mazon said. “He has come to
the Super Saturday recruitment events, and he has worked really hard to get our computer lab up and running and ready to go for the students.”
Apart from the experience, Cross also has a certain personality and set of skills that makes interactions with students and other staff very easy, and overall contributes to student success.
“He is student-friendly, he is easily approachable, and he has a very good demeanor with students and with his colleagues,” said Mazon. “We want to get the best instructors for our students not just because of their accolades and their accomplishments, but also their personality and demeanor. He just really wants the best for Pierce College and the student
experience in his classroom.”
Music major Dontell Jenkins feels like Cross’ teaching style has been able to provide insight for what it is like to work in the music field.
“He gives us the fundamentals of knowing what it feels like to be recording on a mic and record sounds and integrate the beat and loops and hooks into music,” Jenkins said.
Cross’ teachings have already started to have an impact on students. Mazon believes he has the potential to continue to do so based on his past work and reputation.
“I really think that his contributions are going to help build our commercial music program,” Mazon said. “I think for the students, based on him sharing his own experiences
and knowledge, it is going to help them get jobs in the workforce.”
Cross believes there is room in the music department to expand and improve. During his time at Pierce, Cross has come across many of the equipment that was put in storage during the move from the Music Building to the Village He has already made suggestions for future courses and certificates that will help students.
“The thing about the music department is, it is a really solid department and there is a lot of opportunity for growth and everyone in the music department is very excited about that,” Cross said.
The Fall Dance Concert auditions were held at the North Gym on Sept. 9 from noon to 3 p.m.
The auditions were held by choreographers Brian Moe and Denise Gibson. Many dancers came to audition and everyone had different styles of dancing and each routine was different.
There were dancers who have auditioned before and dancers that are auditioning for the first time. One of the dancers was anthropology major Salma Ubwa, who said this was not her first audition.
“So I came in kind of knowing how everything is gonna go through and I feel like it’s my best one so far,” Ubwa said.
One of the choreographs Ubwa enjoyed the most was a remix of Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love,” which was choreographed by auditioning dancer Jameshia Taylor.
During auditions there were a few routines that were each choreographed by different dancers there. For some of them, it was their first time teaching a routine and some who have taught a routine before.
One of the dancers that
auditioned and choreographed a routine was theater and dance major, Dekotah Wiley. Going into those auditions, Wiley liked learning new techniques and styles.
“It was nerve-wracking at first,” said Wiley, who was also teaching a class for the first time. “But I really enjoyed teaching and seeing how everyone picks up the choreography because I really like everyone’s dancing today,”
Moe taught a routine during auditions and also watched other choreographers teach their routines to everyone. Moe was able to see everybody’s different styles and techniques, see some of the choreographers who auditioned and teach a routine.
“Auditioning is always fun,” Moe said. “There’s always something to stand out, but what’s nice is that we have so many different styles that maybe someone didn’t stand out from my piece, but they definitely stood up to someone else’s.”
Everyone had different styles and techniques that they were able to show off but as well as learn different routines and be able to see each other’s styles.
For the first time in more than 40 years Pierce College men’s soccer has returned.
Pierce men’s soccer coach Julio Castillo started playing soccer around the time he started in Arleta High School.
“It wasn’t until high school that I got into soccer. I got into it little by little,” Julio said.
Coaching never came to Castillo’s mind when he played the game. All he wanted to do was to be involved around the sport and learn more of the material. Before being named as head coach for the men’s soccer team, he was already part of the coaching world for California State University of Northridge and Los Angeles Mission College for the men’s program. He then joined the staff as an assistant for Pierce women’s
soccer coach Adolfo Perez.
“All of the sudden things changed,” he said. “Adolfo was looking for an assistant, and right before covid I got into it. And we thought maybe the men’s program would come up and we’d be there ready to work on it.”
Castillo played for Perez at Mission College, and they became friends.
Perez took him under his wing and was excited for him to be named head coach.
“I was very excited for him. I think he deserves it,” Perez said.
Other than being a husband and father, he cares about his players like if they were his own children.
He wants to teach his players what goes on outside the field.
“That’s what we are looking at,” he said. “On the field we’re going to win, we’re going to lose, we’re going to tie some
“He’s got an affectionate personality,” Adolfo said. “He’s little, but he barks. I think he fits perfectly for this position because he’s a Latino. He attracts kids in his real life situations, he relates to them.”
So far this season the soccer team has a 2-1 record.
Forward Pedro Jr. Perez explained how much Castillo gives the team advice off and on the field.
is a great way of showing what a role model really is.”
Pedro Jr. Perez explained what Castillo does off the field.
“He talks to me everyday,” he said. “He’s very supportive of me, and I’m pretty sure he’s like that with every other kid here too.”
Athletic Director Deborah Hefter explained how impact a teacher or coach can have with one person to another, and to a student who needs a role model.
games, but, in reality, we’re trying to prepare them for the real world. That’s our goal, that’s what we want,” Castillo said.
Castillo wants to make his players better physically and mentally. Perez agrees that they are there to help them prepare for the next chapter of their lives.
“He works us hard, he disciplines all of us, he’s a good coach,” Pedro Jr. Perez said. “He knew me in middle school and wanted me to play for his high school, but now since we are reunited again it feels good to be with him. It was meant to be. The impact Julio has for this team
“I often tell coaches they might not remember every athlete that they get to impact,” she said. “As a swimmer, I don’t remember every person I taught to swim, but I guarantee they remember you as a coach, because the impact you have as a coach is bigger than sometimes you can even imagine.”
“
I think he fits perfectly for this position because he’s a Latino. He attracts kids in his real life situations- he relates to them.”
Adolfo Perez, Pierce Women's Soccer Coach
Pierce takes down East L.A. College in the first home game since 1980.
The Lady Brahmas earned their second win of the season at Shepard stadium against Victor Valley on Friday, advancing their overall record 2-2.
LA Pierce took control offensively from the jump, having 14 shot attempts on goal within the first half.
Midfielder May Htet Lu played an exceptional game and contributed six shots for the team. She admits that the first half felt more cohesive as a team.
“I think the first half was better than the second half. In the first half we had higher intensity, and all of us were talking to each other more compared to the second half,” Htet Lu said. “We missed a lot of opportunities, but they were very good ones and that means we were playing well.”
Head Coach Adolfo Perez said this game was special in particular because they found a way to connect.
“It was really good having this game under our belt, every girl played and felt good about themselves. We changed the system a little bit. That was the key, we had the ability to score goals which is good,” Perez said.
The intensity and perseverance of the Lady Brahmas was showcased all throughout the game, Pierce found a way to create a tightknit offense and defense, only allowing one shot on goal from Victor Valley.
Right wing forward Alia Peñaherrera was a powerhouse for her team, scoring the third goal of the night and assisting midfielder Victoria Castro in the first half.
Peñaherrera said she is excited about this season and watching her team continue to evolve.
“Our biggest strength as a team is the way we cover for each other, we will always have each other’s back,”Peñaherrera said. “Our talks after the games allowed us to fix little mistakes that we had made, it helped us today in our game and gave us the confidence boost we needed.”
Both teams were hungry for a win. The game became increasingly heated in the second half as Victor Valley tallied five fouls and Pierce with three. With the time stamp at 86:53, Victory Valley midfielder Aracelli Sanchez draws a yellow card against her.
Despite the roughness of the game, Pierce continued to dominate the field and work together as one unit.
The Lady Brahams look to gain another win September 12 at Santa Monica college. Kickoff is set for 4p.m. PST.
By Jacob Macofsky ReporterFans made their way into the bleachers at Shepard Stadium on Friday to witness Pierce College Brahmas first home men’s soccer game in 43 years.
For the men’s soccer team’s long-awaited return to the field, the Brahmas played against the East L.A. College Huskies, winning 1-0.
Brahmas head coach Julio Castillo expressed his joy being able to represent his team in front of home fans.
“We’re just excited to have the opportunity to compete,” Castillo said. “It’s been a long time since this school had a [men’s soccer] program. We’re just excited for the opportunity.”
Brahmas forward Pedro Perez Jr. chimed in on how special it is to be a part of this team and to play in front of the fans that waited for a men’s soccer team to return.
“It feels really good,” Perez said. “Honestly, I love the atmosphere, I love the people, I love the team, and I love everyone in the administration who made this happen.”
It was a low scoring
affair between the two sides, as a goal from Perez was the only point scored.
Perez now leads the team in goals, and has scored three times over the past two games. When asked about leading his team in scoring, Perez credited his dedication to becoming the best player that he can be.
“Every day, I say, I’m going to score a goal and try my best,” Perez said. “I always want to be the best. I always want high status for myself and I just simply want to be the best.”
Goalkeeper Matthew Ceja played a pivotal role in the game by shutting out the Huskies’ offensive attacks and defending multiple penalty shots in the second half. Ceja attributed his performance with sticking to his game plan and to doing everything he could to help the team win.
“My game plan was just to try to be there for my team, you know, keep a clean sheet and just work hard,” Ceja said. “At the end of the day, it all went as planned.”
Read the rest of the story at theroundupnew.com
The ladies use their strengths as a team to secure a win over Victor Valley College.Victoria Castro (10) scores the first goal past Raylene Amezcua (2) during a game against Victor Valley at John Shepard Stadium in Woodland Hills, Calif., on Sept. 8, 2023. Roundup News/BENJAMIN HANSON Roundup News/MYRANELI FABIAN Pedro Perez Jr. steals the ball from Benjamin Gamez during a game against East LA College in Woodland Hills, Calif., on Sept. 8, 2023.
May Htet Lu (7) and Olivia Sulejmanagic (24) jump for the ball during a game against the Victor Valley Rams at John Shepard Stadium in Woodland Hills, Calif., on Sept 8, 2023. The Brahmas won 4-1. Photo by Benjamin Hanson.
