By Adnan Ramic and Quincy Clavelle
Students at American River College can take their campus for granted.
Whether it is the lines at the financial aid office or the poor conditions of bathrooms, students can sometimes lose sight of or overlook the quality of higher education that is offered to them at ARC.
By walking around campus, students can see construction sites for new buildings and a presence of the administration attempting to modernize the school. An example of this is the construction of the new culinary arts building, which recently opened for instruction this semester.
Devin Ward, a former student of Yuba College, prefers his new campus experience at ARC to Yuba’s.
“I like it a lot more. The environment is better. Better food. Better people, and I like seeing new faces,” said Ward.
Ward feels that he can be very successful at ARC, adding, “I’m looking forward to my next couple years here at American River.”
Jackie Bernauer, who previously attended Berkeley City College for two years, is currently attending her first semester at ARC. Bernauer said her time at BCC was amazing and that the campus was fairly different.
“It’s one big building and all you have to do to get to your classes is take an elevator. There’s like five floors,” said Bernauer.
Bernauer, who is used to the teachers at BCC, thinks that education is a lot more structured at ARC.
“I think it’s mostly has to do with the teachers, everything just feels more laid back and loose there,” Bernauer said.
Bernauer says that, in her experience, the people at Berkeley are ‘wacky,’ more so than those at ARC.
“Everyone is kind of ‘out there’,” she said. “Which is good, because everyone is open with who they are.”
Bernauer explained that she moved back to Sacramento because living in Berkeley had become too hectic.
“Berkeley is an overwhelming place. It’s a completely different environment but at the same time, I think it was really good for me to go there for two years because I feel it made me grow a lot as a person. And even though I really miss it, I was kind of ready to move back at the same time because city life kind of exhausts you. So it is nice being here, because it’s not fast paced.”
While many students at ARC are quick to bash it for it’s flaws, these students should look at the things that make our campus a better option than other schools to get a greater education after high school.
