Jose is a student at Holyoke Community College in Holyoke, Massachusetts where he has he has taken a range of certificate

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courses that he has completed. Uh and right now he is working on music. He is here with Lebeca Leperati who is a

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enrollment counselor at Holio and she uh guides students who are pursuing certificate programs as well as

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associates degrees and certificates. Uh she will explain the courses that you can take at Holio Community College, how

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students can get involved on campus, and what types of supports are available to students. I’m so excited that both Jose

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and Rebecca are joining us to get um both sides of the student experience at community college. Um just because I

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know that community college is a great resource for a lot of students and it’s not always clear in the K12 setting how

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you get started on campus and what the ways to access that are. Um so community college is for anybody who wants to

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continue learning in a vocational setting which means anybody who is post uh K12 and wants to gain job skills that

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are going to be relevant um for careers uh and for the life skills that we all need to navigate our complicated world.

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Um, for many students who are leaving high school or getting their GED, the next uh step is a non-traditional college setting like community college.

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And this is a great way to get skills in work-based experiences as well as access to hands-on vocational training um that

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can help you prepare for certificates, for licensing exams, for internships, apprenticeships, and work. Uh and it

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also is a great way to develop self- advocacy skills to become uh a fully

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heard and realized member of the community. Holio Community College is one of the many wonderful community colleges across the nation providing

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those services and options. So Jose and Rebecca, I’m so excited to talk about that with both of you. Um,

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Jose, I understand that you like music and that this semester you’re taking a course on the fundamentals of music, but

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you’ve also taken some courses in other areas like dev studies and um thing practical things like first aid. Um, but

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can you tell me a little bit about the music course that you took? Yeah. Um, it

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was good. Um, I just finished the final recently.

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Oh, congratulations. Yeah, I got an A on the class. That’s wonderful. Um, was it

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a specific style of music like vocal music or instrumental music? I was just learning like the notation and the music.

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Oh, so how how to read um written music.

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That’s very cool. I can see how that’s a useful skill. Is there a specific instrument you play?

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I used to play the trumpet, but I haven’t been able to practice or anything because ever since I aged out of school. And I know you’ve taken some

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other courses and you’re working towards a certificate as a pareducator. Is that right? That’s correct. And what do you

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hope to do as a pareducator? Is there a certain type of student that you see yourself really wanting to support in school?

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Yeah, I used to be in the holy transitions program. So that’s where, you know, I like to go back and help

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people out. Yeah. And for people that are not as familiar with the world of special ed, I’m guessing a transition,

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your transition program was probably focused on people who are done with high school and are in that 18 to 22 age group. Is that right?

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Oh, okay. So, you used to attend that program yourself and you want to go and give back to the students that are still there. Very cool. Um, and how were the other courses that you’ve taken so far?

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Um, it was good actually. Yeah. Um, it was worth it. Worth it. Uh, how how was

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um how was Dev’s studies? Did you cover ASL? Yeah. Yeah.

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Cool. I don’t know sign language, but it’s something that I have always thought to myself would really be a valuable um skill to add in terms of

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disability justice. So, I’m glad that you got that exposure. Uh, what about first aid? Did you do, you know, CPR, choking, all those things?

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Good. Yep. Valuable life skills. And, um, what are you planning to take next?

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Um, next semester, I’m work I’m going to be getting um a ceramics class that I’m going to be working on. Oh, that sounds really fun.

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Interesting. Okay. I just want to make sure, Jose, uh that you are talking about all of the fabulous things that

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you’re doing on campus. You know, you mentioned first aid and some of the art classes that you’re starting to dabble in, but you are very engaged with the

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campus on many levels. Um if it’s okay to bring it up, um you’ve taken deescalation techniques. You really care

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about safety and trauma-informed practice. Um, and can you tell Catherine a little bit about how you’re engaged

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with the campus outside of class? I don’t want to jump ahead, but I just think that it really it paints a fuller picture as to like how involved you are

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and what you’re passionate about as a student.

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So, to bring that up, um, I’m on the student senate um, council, so it’s like we advocate for the students and staff.

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Yeah. And it sounds like first aid isn’t the only safety skill uh in terms of trauma-informed care and deescalation

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techniques. That’s wonderful inclusive work that you’re learning. It’s great that you’ve been able to connect to those opportunities and I hope they’ll

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serve you well uh in terms of your future work with with students. Um, how

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did you find Holio Community College and how did you get interested in your current program? So, I used to go to it

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before when I aged out of school. Um, the transitions program got me into it.

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Yeah. Yeah. Um, yeah. So, that’s actually where I met Jose um was when he was a transition student attending the

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MAY program at HCC. So, we’re the um now known as MAPY, but we’re the Massachusetts Inclusive Post-Secary Ed

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Initiative, and we work with two um groups of students. We work with both tier 1 and tier 2 students who are

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enrolled in a transition program. So, just like Mass Bay, um they’re part of our Mey community, community as well, um

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of our uh state cohort. Um, but we work with students who are in the transition program who either have not received a

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high school diploma or who have earned their high school diploma, but they deferred it in order to receive transition services to kind of help them

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into that next step. So, Jose started his journey with me as a transition student and with new legislation that

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passed back in 2022 um that allowed us to enroll students 22 plus who are part of the adult agencies

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which is where Jose is now. And so he is being supported in our program through our adult agency partners through um DDS

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or the department of developmental services.

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Yes. Um can you tell me a little bit more about your background? what what mindset you were in when you were

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graduating high school and first thinking about college just to try to um shed some light on that for younger students who are just at the start of their college journey. Jose.

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So, yeah. So, I heard I first heard about the transition program when a teacher from high school told me about it. Like, he talked at the meetings and

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stuff about it like like I think he really wanted me in there. Um, I was like, “No, no, no.” But I decid I made

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the decision to go and stuff cuz you know there’s opportunities.

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And so I’m told that you have a an educational coach at HCC. Can you tell

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me more about what that is and the type of coaching that you’re getting? Yeah, so my job coach is focusing on helping

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me out um we meet at least once a week and to work on all the stuff that I need help on. Yeah. Could you give some

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examples of maybe what you worked on recently?

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Yeah. So we worked on organizational um budget management or

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so financial skills planning for There we go. Yeah, absolutely. That’s great.

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So Rebecca already shouted out how involved you are in campus life and that

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you are on the student senate. Can you share more about the types of things that you do on the student senate or if

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there are even other things you do on campus? Um, so we were we had to made a decision about the administrative

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withdrawal policy which we voted no on cuz it was being used the wrong way. Are

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there other uh activities or clubs or volunteer work that you do, Jose? Yeah.

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So I’m also part of the people culture and equity movement at HCC which focuses on community policing camp and I’m also on the campus safety advisory council.

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Yeah. So what inspired you to get involved in people culture and equity or in policing reform?

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So, when I first was it um I was at I went to a local hospital during a crisis and I was restrained in the wrong way um

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because of a medical issue. I’m so sorry that it was it was lived experience of being mistreated that moved you to do

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that. But I’m really glad you’re involved.

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Um thank you for your service. I hope that a lot of students benefit from your

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work. Jose. Um, thank you. So, how how do you get to campus? Are you a commuter student? Um, I take the paratransit

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service like the senior and disability service. Ah, yes. Yes. Because there is a there is an obligation to provide

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access. So, you’re able to access regional paratransit to get to campus.

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That’s a great option to know about. We haven’t talked to students who live outside of areas served by public

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transit, but I know from having been to Holy Oak, Massachusetts that it is more rural than some communities. Um, do you

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have any tips for students that are living in rural areas or or areas that are small towns? Yep. always plan ahead

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and always always plan your trips a hour ahead or so depending on how late they’re going to be or the weather

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situation it’s going to be. Oh, that’s really good advice. That’s super practical.

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Um, and Rebecca, can you tell me a little bit more about the range of students that are served at HCC?

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Absolutely. Um, so HCC is a Hispanic serving institution. So, we truly are um serving anyone who is interested in

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upward mobility and interested in pursuing an educational um experience.

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Um probably one of my favorite parts of working at a community college is that it in fact reflects the community. So, there is not one student profile. You

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know, we have some folks coming in who are first generation college students.

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We have students coming in from transition programs. We have students who are coming in who are 65 years old and wanting some personal enrichment and

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you know all the folks in between. So that’s probably the most exciting part about working at this institution is

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that it’s truly ingrained in the values of reflecting our community and making opportunity available to anybody who who

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is interested in seeking that. So, you mentioned that you work with disabled and deaf students in particular. Um, and

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that HCC I know has a deaf studies certificate program, but also a wide variety of other things from culinary

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arts um to to educational aid programs like what Jose might be working on. How

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do students pick or find the program that best suits their goals or is there counseling for that? There’s definitely

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advising um from our professional advisors um in campus center. You know, students who are really unsure of the

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direction or path that they want to take, they’re encouraged to kind of come in and talk to somebody about that. Um

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sort of like the lucky piece of being or having that flexibility in a community college setting is that students can change their major. So like it is truly

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a choose your own adventure. You know, students might come in undeclared. They might come in as a liberal arts study just because that’s the most flexible

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and they can really kind of run the gamut of what is interesting to them and then actually declare a major down the line. Actually, another thing I wanted

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to point out too that I think is really important for folks to know who for whatever reason, maybe they’re thinking about college and maybe considering

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like, I don’t know if it’s for me or I don’t know if I belong there. I don’t know if I can attain this in whatever

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way. Um, you know, community college is free in Massachusetts through our Mass Educate and Mass Reconnect programs

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where, you know, um, folks who do not have a bachelor’s degree who have lived in the state for a year. We strongly encourage you to come talk to us. Um,

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you still have to fill out a financial aid or FASA form, but it is truly I feel like it has really opened up the gates

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for folks who may have otherwise faced some financial barriers of coming to college and our adviserss can walk you

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through that as well. Um, if you have any questions or are unsure of your eligibility, um, we encourage you,

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please come talk to us. Yeah. If you are receiving adult disability support and you do not feel that tuition is

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attainable, this is a great way to continue your education. Um, because I know that adult disability income

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supports, regardless of the specific program that funds you, is not a ton of money per month. So, finding money for things like tuition can be prohibitive.

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Um, yeah. What are the most just for my edification, what are the most popular tracks of study at Holio, what are the

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what are the most popular certificates or majors?

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Definitely culinary. Um, we have this beautiful culinary art institute which is actually located off of our main campus. It’s downtown Holio, so it’s

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very accessible by public transportation. Um, I would definitely say that is probably one of our most

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popular. Um, at least with the students that I work with, uh, Vette is also very popular as well as nursing and health.

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Um, communications and I would be remiss if I didn’t shout out our arts department. They are truly

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a jewel of the campus. Um, they’re wonderful not only to my MACY students, but to students as well. And I feel like

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Jose, you can speak to that with your music classes that you’re taking, but they are the faculty there are truly very special and I feel like have um

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definitely attracted a wide range of students because of that. Yeah. And I can see how taking a a fine or studio

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art would be beneficial to anybody regardless of your field of study just to learn some self-expression and and gain skills. Does that sound fair, Jose?

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Yeah. Um, my professor was really nice actually. She she was awesome. Yeah. So, it sounds like you had that experience

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of the arts faculty being really wonderful like Rebecca’s talking about so and they also understand you too your

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situations and stuff. Yeah, that’s great to hear. Um, so you mentioned that you want to be a PAR educator.

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So, you’re working towards the certification exam, right?

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How’s that going right now? So far, I failed I passed one part and I failed the other two parts.

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Okay. So, past one is good. Um, do you have support from HCC or how are you

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working towards uh studying for the exam? I’ve been trying to work on with my job, my ad coach, but it’s been

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difficult this semester with the classes that I was taking.

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Yeah, I I can appreciate how music might not really feel related at all to the content of the exam. Um, do you have

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courses that you’re thinking of that might be more related to the exam? Or Rebecca, do can you talk about how the

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HCC programming might tie into that goal?

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Yeah, absolutely. So, um, if it’s okay to say, Jose, I know that you’ve taken some math courses to kind of help refresh. Um, we’ve printed out some

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practice exams. So, when Jose is meeting with his ed coach, you know, maybe they’ll time a segment, maybe they’ll

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see, you know, um, if there’s a specific uh, topic or um, category of questions

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that he’s having issues with. Um, we have talked about disclosure and accommodations, and that’s something that we’re looking um, into as well. Um,

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not to talk about culinary again, but that our experience with accommodations with state um testing um for the food handler exam.

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They have worked with our students in the past for accommodations. Um but we’re still seeking if that’s Yeah, we’re seeking if that’s a possibility for for Jose and his his um future exam.

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So, Jose and and Rebecca, you can chime in if you if you want once we hear from Jose, but what advice do you have for

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other autistic students who are moving beyond high school and thinking about

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transitioning uh and exploring career paths? What would you say to them?

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Um, I’d say that there’s a there’s a purpose for everything. So, it’s like if you’re resistant, like you’re not sure,

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you know, always ask questions and stuff and and decide, you know, in my experience, I think it was worth it because, um, now without them, if it

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wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be here at HCC.

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Um, and I’d like to add to that for sure. Um, I love to tell students that if it’s something that you want, it is

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waiting for you. um you know the process of finding out what you want and seeking a college experience. It’s like this big

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process of becoming. I like to kind of explain an HCC experience as practice becoming an adult, right? That’s not

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inherent to us. We all have to learn those skills. We all have to learn through self-determination and honestly um dignity of risk like

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taking those chances and trying something new. And I think that there’s so much knowledge to be gained. There’s so many people on campus, not just at

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HCC, but I want to say community colleges as a whole, who really believe in students. Um, we are fueled by your

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success and by your desire to really engage with those opportunities. And success is individualized, right? Like

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not every path is the same. We all take different paths, but I really want to encourage students to really go for it

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and to believe deeply that they belong at wherever institution they end up that

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students belong and you have a place there. So, you belong everywhere you

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decide to be. Mhm. Definitely on campus especially.

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Yes. I have a little sign in my office actually that says uh the world needs your magic. And I I truly mean that like

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come as you are. Yeah. And Jose, you’ve you’ve talked very eloquently about some

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of the causes on campus that you care about and are making a positive difference in. And so I’m glad Holio

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Community College has Jose’s magic. Um that’s a testament to to the good in the world. Um any

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final nuggets of advice you have for students uh considering or attending community college just like you?

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Um yes. So I would say to attending students um you know don’t don’t be afraid of

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failure. It’s okay to taste risk takes risks.

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Yeah. And it’s okay to to not succeed.

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There is no human that has that has succeeded more than they failed. That’s not possible.

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A loss is always a time to learn a lesson.

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[Music]

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Very well said.

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Well, Rebecca and Jose, thank you so much both of you for talking about the wonderful work that’s happening on

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campus at Holio Community College. Um, it’s great to hear from both of you about the stuff that’s happening for community college students.

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Yes. Thank you so much for having

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