Turn off your music and get off my lawn you dang kids!

Allow me to make something clear, I am a young, lively college student who likes to be social, not a stereotype of an octogenarian. So why was this the sentiment I had as I was walking across the green during the CAC Palooza in October? Perhaps it was the noise. Loud, naïve high schoolers were roaming all over the green and Sia blaring from the loudspeakers. I’m used to empty hallways and a library that would give a tomb a run for its money. It isn’t until events like this that I notice how quiet it is around here. We don’t get a lot of people here at the Maricopa campus, and that isn’t a good thing.

It isn’t like we don’t have high schoolers in Maricopa. We have a high school here in town, but we are losing them to four year universities for draws such as more social life, better resources, or just a chance to get away from a small town. Sad thing is, Maricopa Campus could offer all but the last one, and for so much cheaper. What we need to do is to show the high schoolers that community college isn’t underpopulated hallways.

So how do we go about bring more students into this campus we call home? One way we could do this is to reach out and befriend those who are new here and show them the benefits of getting an education here. The communications club sponsored by our own Dr. Ruth Butler had a similar program to this only for students transferring into college. What we can do for the college becomes limitless when we have a better connection to our high schools. We need to find out what they would like to see in a community college. Before you find out what you have to do to join the communication club however, let me offer a little tidbit of information… communication club is a dead duck.

There are a couple of reasons for this. At a small campus, people graduate quickly, and there aren’t a lot of new students to take the place of former members. But if you are interested in resurrecting the communications club, please contact either Dr. Butler or me at the email addresses listed below. The club wouldn’t just be for the purpose of bring in new students if that isn’t the desire of its members, but that is one of the opportunities we have to help our school to flourish and to make a difference in the lives and pockets of the next generation.

My email: [email protected]

Dr. Butler’s email: [email protected]} else {