Student Success

STUDENT SARA SAIB IS PING PONG CLUB PRESIDENT AND ACADEMIC ALL-STAR

After moving to the United States from Nagasaki, Japan, Physics Major Sara Saib found inspiration, support and success at SBCC. The 20-year-old SBCC Ping Pong Club president will be transferring this Fall with four associate degrees, a NASA Scholars internship and a San Diego Department of Energy internship under her belt.

Sara attributes her success at SBCC to the support she found in her professors, staff, friends and the STEM, TAP and EOPS programs.

“It was the individuals that I connected with through classes, clubs and programs who helped me make connections and learn about the resources and opportunities available to me,” she said. “These individuals made me feel supported and included. They inspired me.”

Sara shifted her focus away from academics and decided to start SBCC’s first Ping Pong Club to “make my life unique and develop my identity at SBCC,” she said.

“Staff members and professors at SBCC are so supportive and helped me gain the confidence I needed to start something if I wanted to.”

The academic all-star said she wanted to teach students how ping pong can be more than just a fun game and that it is a sport. She competed competitively in Japan and wanted to teach others the skills she had learned.

“I am so glad I started the club as it was the place to make friends and made me known to some others as the ‘Ping Pong Club president,’” she said. “Being in a leadership position also taught me so many new skills like leading meetings, contacting others and getting connected with other leaders on campus.”

Navigating a community college worried Sara when she first arrived, but she said she quickly realized that the support she needed was right here at SBCC.

“I met so many incredible professors and friends who I want to keep in touch with forever,” she said. “I also learned that places like SBCC, which provide affordable education, are very important in a community.”

Sara has some advice for City College students: “Get involved! It is so important in making your college life a success,” she said. “Even if you feel shy, you can be a part of a club or a program and make friends who are alike and make connections with so many people. You will grow in the process – I definitely did.”

FILM STUDENT WILL HAHN WINS BEST DIRECTOR HONORS IN SBIFF

On the final afternoon of this year’s Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF), a near-sellout crowd assembled at the Arlington Theatre to screen 10 student films and find out who would take home a coveted 10-10-10 award. When the award for best director among the college finalists was announced, Santa Barbara City College film student Will Hahn was given that top honor.

This year’s theme for the competition was “Satire.” Hanh’s film, titled “The Goatman” (written by Troy Wullbrandt, another SBCC student), takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the horror-film genre and the trials and tribulations of a student film crew trying to film an entry for a film festival.

Hahn was drawn to Wullbrant’s script from the start. When considering how best to bring it to the screen, he commented, “I was influenced by the cinematic techniques of ‘Stranger Things’ [the Netflix original series]. We wanted to go for that kind of quality. For satire, we drew inspiration from Saturday Night Live – after all, who does that better than SNL?”

When asked about his biggest challenge in making the film, Hahn replied, “Over half the film took place outside, at night in an avocado orchard. It was about 40 degrees, pouring rain and there was no power. But the cast and crew were amazing. They kept on going above and beyond the call of duty.”

Going forward Hahn plans to earn his Bachelor of Arts degree and has applied to several of the top film schools in the country. Eventually he would like to make films that tell the stories of people in America’s small towns; stories about people who feel forgotten and left out. If he ever achieves the same success his mentors achieved, he expressed this desire: “I want to do what my mentors did for me. I want to give back.”

PROGRAMMING TEAMS WIN TOP HONORS AT COMPETITION

In November, SBCC’s computer programming teams turned in successful performances in the 2019 Southern California Regionals for the International Collegiate Programming Competition (ICPC) in Riverside, CA, including First Runner Up among two-year schools in the competition.

The top team, consisting of Monica Aguilar, Nhan Le, and Jianlyu Mao, outscored teams from a number of four-year universities, including Cal Tech, UCI, UCLA, UCR and UCSD.

STUDENT BY DAY, EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIAN BY NIGHT

Working five nights a week from 7 p.m.–7 a.m., and saving people from near death, is probably not how most college students would choose to spend their time, but SBCC student Tia Taylor wouldn’t have it any other way.

Nineteen-year-old Tia is the youngest Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) at the station at the American Medical Response Station in Goleta. From the time she was 16 years old and saw a presentation given by paramedics and firefighters at her school, she knew that she had found her career path.

Tia begins her shift by organizing the equipment and preparing for whatever the next 12 hours will bring. “When you work in the medical field,” she says, “You never know what to expect.”

WOMXN CODERS WIN AT UCSB HACKATHON

WomxnHacks 2, a 36-hour event held last January, saw over 70 female-identifying student programmers collaborating in small groups to create a team project from start to finish. At the end, the students showcased their skills and hard work with live demos, presenting their finished products to their peers and industry professionals. Of the 28 projects that were submitted, the SBCC teams won three out of 12 awards: Best Education Hack, Best Runner Up Hack (Advanced), and Beginner Honorary Mention.

THE CAMPUS CLUB COMMUNITY

Students have created, and run, a number of active and vibrant clubs on campus, providing themselves with opportunities to get involved, make friends and make a difference. Clubs focus on a variety of interests such as career options, student diversity, service, recreation and academic interests.

“With over 45 clubs here at SBCC students are sure to find ‘their people.’ Clubs offer our students the opportunity to explore new experiences, express their culture and creativity, improve on their own or help others to achieve success in academics and foster their need for community. From social to academic endeavors, SBCC offers a club for all who are interested!”

— Amy Collins, Program Director for the Office of Student Life