Help is around the corner

Resource awareness fair informs students of campus services

PAOLA CASTILLO Reporter @paaolacaastillo

The unsung heroes of Pierce College lined up down The Mall Sept. 17 and 18 for the Annual Student Services Fair.

The event provided a chance for students to meet representatives and discover various services offered on campus that would otherwise go unnoticed.

Joleen Voss-Rodriguez, the Program for Accelerated College Education (P.A.C.E) Director, said she isn’t sure that students know about the resources Pierce provides. She hopes students will understand that there are people who want to help push them forward.

“We're really here to support students toward success and that, I'm hoping, is the message that students receive,” Voss-Rodriguez said. “

Like, ‘Wow, look at all these amazing services and support services we have here to help them succeed.”

P.A.C.E. is a program that allows students to graduate and transfer with an associate's degree within 2 years. Students in the program are still considered full-time and aren’t limited to certain types of classes.

Voss-Rodriguez said the program can be joined by any student, but its main target is working students to give them more time to work with their families..

Individual student success wasn’t the only focus that was present at the fair. The academic learning community Umoja was present in promoting its services.

Umoja CGCA Rozalyn Randall said the Umoja program is similar to a black student union or a family.

Randall said that Umoja looks for students from all walks of life, but that they look to promote a different perspective.

“We are specifically on campus promoting the African and African American perspectives and views on education and current topics,” Randall said.

Apart from academics, the student fair also helped students find resources that can assist them on a personal basis.

Beth Benne, the director of the Student Health Center, said she hopes that the fair will let students know they exist. She said students don’t usually know about the services they provide until they are needed.

“Students don't know we exist until they're ill. We get a lot of students who need to be tested for their class,” Benne said.

Benne continues by sharing her concerns with uninsured students. She said they are the ones who should know about the services that the Student Health Center provides.

“Those uninsured students are the ones that I really worry about. I like to say if you're uninsured we should be your best friends,” Benne said.

Nicholas Aguirre, a student who attended the fair, said he heard of it because of his friend. He described how welcoming the fair was.

“It's a lot less people at this time than it is during the day, so it was a lot more calm. The people were very friendly and informative,” Aguirre said.

Access to the Student Services page can be found on the left-hand side of the Pierce College website homepage under “Student Services.”

Dagomba drumming or ‘Poor Crusty’ really shows the bombastic side of loud beats and rhythmic things we can do,” Good said during a transition. “Something like my piece shows a little more delicateness. I really love the range that each of these instruments have.”

Good received a Bachelor’s in Percussion Performance and Musical Composition at the Hartt School in Connecticut. As an undergraduate student, Good’s first composition professor was David Macbride who wrote “Triptych Mvt. 1.” Macbride was influenced by Indonesian bamboo wind chimes that were repurposed into instruments.

Macbride died a year ago. Good will return to Hartt School this October for Macbride’s memorial concert.

“I consider it to be my wheelhouse piece inbedded in me,” Good said. “This is the first time I’m playing it since his passing. It’s a very special performance that I wanted to share.”

The movement is one of a three part series. Good utilized a wooden Marimba, the largest instrument on stage, to carry the notes from his sheet music and into the ears of listeners.

To close the show, the ensemble of five returned to Dagomba praise drumming. They demonstrated their skills with a bit of improv heard in “Namog’ Yili Mali Kpion Kpam,” “Nagbigeau” and “Nanigoo.” aaguilera.roundupnews@gmail.com

At last, they finished with “Damba.” Bardales, who was wearing a different smock than the others, demonstrated why his was contrasting. His smock was larger and more airy which opened wide while he danced and jumped during their final performance.

He would stomp to the rhythm of the drums and slowly crouch down with the ensemble crouching with him. He was the leader and would walk toward them but they would step away from him. He would in turn step away from them as they walked toward him.

Their chemistry was evident as they danced off stage yet continued to play backstage. Their drumming was muffled but still they went on as if for their appreciation of Dagomba and for the amusement of themselves.

The next Thursday Concert will be on Oct. 3 at the Performing Arts Building Mainstage and will feature Charlotte Betry, a piccolo and flute performer.