Nhi Nguyen: Journey from Vietnam leads to Grossmont College

Nhi Nguyen

She has attended colleges and universities across the world, from law school in Vietnam to an MBA program at Marshall University in West Virginia and a student exchange program in Sweden. But Nhi Nguyen is sold on Grossmont College, where she’s now studying business administration. 

“I know it’s a community college and not a university, but it gives me much more than what I expected,” said Nguyen, 28. “In a small class size, you can easily talk to your professor, plus a lot of professors here are also teaching at a university, so what’s the difference? If you’re taking general education or lower division courses in a particular subject, and you’re learning from the same instructors, it makes sense to go to a community college, which is a lot more economical.”

 Nguyen, who has long aspired to work at one of the Big Four accounting firms, took a detour to Grossmont College after a combination of financial challenges her parents were facing in Vietnam and the added cost that came with her younger brother’s decision to pursue a college degree.  

She left Marshall University in 2018 and moved to an aunt’s home in La Mesa determined to enroll at a community college to save money. Her experience with Grossmont College left her impressed. 

Five from East County college district receive national award for community college excellence

Linda Bertolucci, Jennifer Fujimoto

Three instructors and two managers from the East County community college district are recipients of a national award recognizing excellence in community college teaching and leadership.

Cuyamaca College instructor Donald Jones, Grossmont College instructors Oralee Holder and Richard Uris, and District Services managers Linda Bertolucci and Jennifer Fujimoto were honored today at the 2019 Innovations Conference in New York City, which drew community college representatives from across the United States. 

Isaac Phillips: Failure not an option for Grossmont College student

Isaac Phillips and family. Nari Wilborn, left;
mother Deborah Williams, center; Miriah
Wilborn, right; Dhario Wilborn, in lap.

Isaac Phillips doesn’t believe in failure. Every time the 31-year-old Santee resident comes face to face with a life-changing challenge, he not only moves forward, he thrives.

Like when his career plans were put on hold after his brother was shot and Phillips and his mother took responsibility for raising his brother’s two youngest daughters and son. Phillips stood firm, enrolled at Grossmont College to build a better future for him and his family, and along the way became a scholar, a tutor, a peer mentor and an invaluable member of the campus Umoja community.

Or when, in late January, Phillips heard the sound of gunfire while getting into his car, sped away from the danger, clipped another vehicle and crashed into a tree. Less than a week after the accident that left him hospitalized with serious injuries to his back and legs, Phillips was back at Grossmont and learned he was accepted to Tuskegee University, scholarship included. Now he’s waiting to hear if he’s been accepted to Harvard.

“Things have a way of working out,” Phillips said. “You can’t focus on the negative.”

It’s that attitude that has left a long list of admirers at Grossmont College, where Phillips will graduate in June with an associate degree in communication and political science.

District Chancellor Cindy L. Miles announces retirement

The 10-year era of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District with Chancellor Cindy L. Miles at the helm will soon draw to a close.

 With what she described as “mixed feelings,” Miles announced today that she will be retiring at the end of the year. Her retirement contract, set to go before the Governing Board Feb. 19, calls for Miles to remain until the end of the year to allow time for a successor to be selected.

“I’m a believer in listening to the rhythm of one’s soul—and, after 30 years of teaching and leading in community colleges, there’s a calling impossible to ignore that’s pulling me in a new direction,” Miles said. She adds that her primary goal has been to clear the way for the college and district communities to “make amazing things happen for students.”

Cuyamaca College spring concert season features musicians of note

Mariachi  Real de San Diego kicks off  concert season.

A wide assortment of musicians ranging from a San Diego mariachi band that has played at the Super Bowl to one of the most in-demand French hornists in the country will be performing in this year’s Spring Concert Series at Cuyamaca College beginning Feb. 28.

All performances, except the Coyote Music Festival, will be held at the Samuel M. Ciccati Theatre in the Samuel M. Ciccati Performing Arts Center. The annual Coyote Music Festival will be held at Cuyamaca College’s Grand Lawn.

Grossmont College's drone technology program helps careers soar

Drone technology students at Grossmont College

With the burgeoning field of drone technology translating into exciting job opportunities, Grossmont College will offer a comprehensive training program that can transform amateurs into licensed commercial drone pilots in just three months.

Best of all, the training that can cost as much as $3,000 in the private sector is free to anyone who is at least 18 years old and a U.S. citizen, as required by the grant. The noncredit program is targeted to groups including veterans, Native Americans, military spouses, ex-offenders, women, high school students and the unemployed and underemployed. Drones are provided during the training.

Registration is now open for classes starting in March.

Black History Month offers an array of events at Grossmont, Cuyamaca colleges

Rapper and political activist Jasiri X  will speak at Grossmont.

Films, music, a poetry slam, and a presentation on media and society by hip-hop artist Jasiri X at Grossmont College and a Martin Luther King Jr. tribute, a black history panel and a look at black women in politics at Cuyamaca College are among February’s Black History Month events.

A diverse selection of events are being offered at both colleges to honor the traditions, legacies and contributions of African-Americans. All events are free and open to the public.      

Also known as National African-American History Month, Black History Month grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African-Americans in 1926, with the month of February selected because the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass were in that month. In the late ‘60s, Negro History Week was transformed into Black History Month due to the civil rights movement, and in 1976 Black History Month was officially recognized by the federal government.