Thanks Nohel for all your efforts.

1. Art And Music Festivals- San Francisco and Berkeley have a rich culture and with that comes free outdoor art and music festivals.  There is one almost every week in the City.  Be sure to check your local listings for the next one coming up.
2. Libraries- There are reading clubs for kids, teens and adults.  There are also programs on everything from henna tatoos to computers, going green, resume writing, movies, crafts, gaming and more.
3. Volunteer- Try volunteering this summer.  You can be a helpful hand in any of the below areas:

• coach;
• hike and clean park trails (they’ll supply bags and gloves);
• help with cultural events;
• teach scrapbooking and art classes;
• greet people at the rec. centers;

Those are just a few activities that you can do to keep your summer busy and have it be productive.  If you want to stay in touch with friends over the summer, you can always send them a free e-card.  Ecards are a great way to be creative, customize your card to say and look how you want and is always a great suprise to get from a friend or loved one.  Online greeting cards are free and you can find one from any category.

The Challenges Ahead

While I would like nothing more than to tell you that we anticipate a strong recovery of the state budget in the near future, this is not the case. California’s fiscal crisis is rooted first and foremost in the worldwide economic collapse. While the world and U.S. economies have shown some signs of turnaround in recent months, all indications are that the recovery will be slow and take an extended period of time. Further, the California economy, the epicenter of the foreclosure crisis, appears to be on an even slower course to recovery than the rest of the nation. Until the economy regains its strength, the California state budget will continue its struggles.

Focusing on Key Priorities

As we move forward though these difficult times, the work of the California Community Colleges has never been more important. Unemployed Californians rely on the community colleges for the retraining they need to find employment and advance in their chosen professions. Students displaced from UC and CSU due to budget cuts will come to our doors to begin their higher educations. California businesses depend on the community colleges to provide the skilled workers needed to compete and prosper in the today’s global economy. While the budget cuts we have experienced will make it harder for us to meet these needs and there is no question our overall capacity to serve students will diminish, we must do what we can with the resources we are provided to meet these critical needs.

These tough times will not last forever, however. When we look back, the test of our worth will be how well we managed to meet the critical educational needs of Californians during challenging fiscal times and how well we preserved the core instructional and student support infrastructure of our colleges. In the weeks and months ahead, I assure you that I will be doing everything possible to look out for the interests of the community colleges in the state budget process and will provide you with timely and accurate updates concerning new developments.

More and more students will be going the community college route and the system will have its work cut out for it.  We will be working together to help students receive quality service with the resources available.

1. Pell grants are generally awarded only to undergraduate students – those who haven’t earned a bachelor’s or graduate degree.
2. In some limited cases, however, you might receive a Pell Grant if you’re enrolled in a postbaccalaureate teacher certificate program.
3. Amounts can change yearly.  The max award for the 2007 – 2008 award year was $4,310.

If you haven’t yet filled out the FAFSA (financial aid application), do so now to give you an opportunity to get money for school.

For more college tips.

Who will be admitted?

“Only fully-eligible first-time freshmen, upper division undergraduate transfers or graduate and post-baccalaureate applicants who have applied for admission prior to July 6, 2009 may be offered admission to the 2010 winter term,” said Jeri Echeverria, CSU executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer.

If you haven’t already, apply to the school, and sign up for some classes. you can access the CCCApply website through our peralta webpage.

I hope everyone is enjoying the beginning of summer!

Other things that you can do to help you get ahead if you are looking to transfer to a 4 year university of college:

1. Get an internship in a field you are interested in studying
2. Do some volunteer work in the community
3. Visit schools that you may be interested in attending
4. Join a student organization or club

Most 4 year universities want to see that you have been a productive student outside of the classroom.  They want to see your leadership abilities and your involvement on campus and in the community.  The more you can show them you will be a contributing member of their community, the more likely your chances of being accepted are.  Keep in mind, you want to maintain a high level of academic performance (G.P.A.) while being involved.  Don’t sacrifice grades just so you get involved in a lot of activities.  It’s better to get high grades and be involved in 1 or 2 things than lower grades while being involved in a million activities.

For more college help, visit Advancement Strategies for Undergraduate Students.

Monday’s 9-7

Tuesday’s 9-7

Wednesday’s 9-7

Thursday’s 9-7

Friday’s 9-5

For an appointment to go over a full educational plan, you will want to make an appointment with a counselor this fall.  You can schedule an appointment by calling the counseling center at (510) 981-5036.  Or, if you know your counselors direct line, you can make an appointment that way.

I hope everyone enjoys there summer and don’t procrastinate on seeing a counselor too long

Enjoy!

Berkeley City College Graduation

Summer is here and registration time has begun.  Students are coming in to see counselors for clearances, matriculation holds and pre-requisites.  If you haven’t done so yet, register for summer and fall classes now before new incoming students do.

With the cost of attending universities being high, many students are looking to get their general education courses done this summer before returning back to their universities.  We expect summer school to be at capacity and funding from the state is going to be tight.  So be sure to take advantage of all the resources you can early.

To see a counselor, please stop by the counseling center on the second floor of Berkeley City College.  All counselors are on a drop-in basis.  Appointments will be taken in the fall only.  Summer is all drop-in counseling.