Introduction
The Santa Monica College is a community college found in Santa Monica in the state of California. The college offers two year programs and some newly introduced degree programs. In this essay I briefly give the reasons why I chose the Santa Monica College. The paper will look into factors that make Santa Monica College the best community college in the locality of Santa Monica.
Santa Monica: The Best College
The community college was established in the year 1926. It is a well established college that is recognized by the Western Association of schools and colleges. With its inertial capacity of one hundred and fifty three students, the college has evolved and expanded in terms of its population, structure and variety of courses that it offers. The college is currently an academic home for about thirty thousand students with a range of courses in about eighty fields of study (Bates 1).
Its vast fields of studies include “nursing, solar technology, new media, computer technology, early childhood education, business” among others (Santa Monica 1). The college, with reference to its main campus, is also strategically located. It is only two miles from a beach and is surrounded by a large number of satellite campuses (Santa Monica 1).
There are several reasons why I did and still do identify Santa Monica as the best college. Whether one asks about it in the locality of Santa Monica or in the extensive united state, the answer is that the college has evolved to an adorable image. One of the interesting and attractive features about the college is its diversity. The county of Los Angeles, in which the college is located, is considered to be one of the most diverse in the United States.
The diversity of the county is experienced in terms of race and ethnicity and is grossly attributed to the comfortable habitat of the state of California. The availability of opportunities, fair weather the topology of the area has offered attraction to the human diversity. This diversity is transmitted to the college through its local students. The diversity is further enhanced by the enrolment of foreign students. A research conducted in the year 2009 by the college indicated a diverse community with more than five distinguished identified races.
The research revealed a majority of the white race at about thirty eighty percent followed by Hispanics at about twenty three percent. Other races recorded in the college by the research included “African Americans, native Americans, Asians, Filipinos, pacific islanders” (Santa Monica 1). About nine percent of the students however did not know their races. This could imply an extension of the number of represented races to may be ten among the students. The same diversity was realized among the college’s employees at different levels and departments (Santa Monica 1).
According to Reynolds, racial diversity among students has a variety of advantages. Students who learn in a racially diverse environment are more likely to exhibit academic, social and other long term benefits as compared to those in single race environments. There exist a conception “that there is some value in attending integrated schools” (Reynolds 5). Learning in this diverse environment of Santa Monica will therefore have a positive impact compared to a college that is dominantly single raced (Reynolds 5).
The environment in the college is also favorable to learning activities. The college has made efforts to ensure that student’s needs, as relates to academic environment, are met. The school specifically provides facilities and specialized services to students with disabilities. There is an established center to offer the services which help the disable define and peruse dreams (Santa Monica 1).
The environment in the Santa Monica College is further enhanced by a variety of services and facilities offered by the institution. One of the significant services is the ensured security at the college. The institution has an internal police system that provides security services twenty four hours a day. This means that students and even the staff are secure together with their property. This has essentially enhanced concentration on the academics hence improved performances. Other services and facilities offered by the institution include:
Entertainment and technology, adelante program for cultural awareness and transfers, art gallery, sports facilities, career services, computer facilities, college newspaper, distance education, financial aid and scholarships, food and health services” among others. (Santa Monica 1).
Transfer to Universities
Another advantage of studying in Santa Monica is the transfer opportunities to universities. “The first two years at SMC prepare you to transfer to UCLA, USC and other prestigious public and private institutions” (International Student 1) in the united states. There are a number of advantages derived from these transfer opportunities. One of the advantages is the opportunity to go to a university. There are requirements for university admissions and the completion of a Santa Monica two year program satisfies the general minimum requirements. There are also offers of specific transfers to these institutions by Santa Monica.
Another advantage of the Santa Monica college is the fact that it offers courses some of which are offered at the universities. The courses are cheaper at the college hence passing through the college will help me save on time and money at the university as exemptions of these courses are granted by the universities. It also provides a path to the universities for foreign students who might not have the means to directly join the institutions (International Student 1).
The College’s Pride
The virtue of its existence in the United States makes Santa Monica College an institution to belong to. There is a sense of prestige and honor to study in an American institution. This is why American learning institutions are flooded by foreign students and Santa College is not an exception.
The education system and experience in the United States is among the best in the globe. The outstanding nature of the American education system is the reason for popularity of its institutions of higher learning like the Harvard, the universities of Michigan, Illinois and California among others. Nobody knows, the Santa Monica might be headed for such recognition. Being one of the fine American institutions therefore makes it an institution of choice (Edu 1).
The college of Santa Monica also has an extensive offer of programs. The institution offers a variety of courses in the fields of arts, science and technology. There are courses like business, communication, counseling, history, music and philosophy among others in the arts department. The science department offers courses in mathematics, chemistry, computer and information systems, engineering and health sciences like nursing among others.
The diversity of programs offered by the college gives a student a chance together with resourceful information of fields in which the student can venture into. The diversity of courses offered also contributes to the diversity of students in the institution, a element of psychological developments (Santa Monica 1).
The academic trend record of the Santa Monica College is also attractive. Due to its quality education, the college has been the leading institution in producing transfers to universities in California. In the competitive university system where minimum academic qualifications are considered, the rate of transfers to universities can be used to gauge the institutions that produce the transfers. This criterion, if used, will put the Santa College on the top lists of colleges (Tsang 1).
The college of Santa Monica’s excellent performance can also be gauged by the people it has produced. A number of significantly well known personalities have come out of the Santa College. According to Petersons, some of the well known personalities in the entertainment industry are products of the college. Petersons Describes individuals like “Dustin Hoffman, Hilary Swank, Nick Cater and Ricky Lee” as well known actors and musicians. The individuals are former students of Santa Monica College. The college has been reporting academic success in middle level courses as well as its newly introduced degree courses in arts (Petersons 1).
Conclusion
Santa Monica College is the community college in California that has the highest number of transfers to the universities. This enables its students to achieve their dreams of getting university education. Apart from its capacity to transfer students to the universities, the college has a variety of elements and measures that enhances student’s performance as well as psychological developments. It is a satisfying institution and I am proud to have chosen it.
Works Cited
Bates, Jessica. Santa Monica College: A top tier two-year community college. Santa Monica, 2010. Web.
Edu Pass. Advantages of a US education. Admissions, 2010. Web.
International Student. Santa Monica College. International Student, n.d. Web.
Petersons. Santa Monica College – Overview. Santa Monica College, 2010. Web.
Reynolds, Gerald. Benefits of Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Elementary and Secondary Education. A Briefing Before the U. S. Commission on Civil Rights. Washington, DC: DIANE Publishing, 2007. Print.
Santa, Monica. Disability resources. Santa Monica, n.d. Web.
Tsang, Chui. President’s message. Santa Monica, n.d. Web.