October's Student Spotlight - Norco Campus
Elsa Ortega
One of our most successful students at RCC Norco is Elsa Ortega. Ms. Ortega earned her AS degree in Social Science and Behavior in the spring of 2009. She was accepted into CSU Fullerton and starting this fall, she will be pursuing a bachelor’s of arts in Sociology.
Elsa comes from a single parent, low-income family background. She is the first in her family to attend and graduate with a postsecondary degree. A 2006 graduate of Centennial High School in Corona, Elsa was one of only a few students who enrolled in an RCC guidance course during her senior year in high school. She didn’t know if she wanted to go to a community college until she went through the guidance course. “The content of the course is what helped me better understand the options I had at a community college and the steps I needed to take to enroll at RCC Norco,” she explained. Two of the most important assignments she recalls were to apply for RCC online and to visit the Norco Campus Assessment Center to take the Accuplacer test. The class also taught her the process to successfully register for classes, how to pay her tuition fees, and where to purchase books. “The guidance course was like an extended orientation that helped me understand how to enroll at Norco. Otherwise, I may have never enrolled.” In the summer of 2006, she also attended “Day of the Mustang” at Norco. The day’s program included a financial aid presentation and if she had not heard the presentation, she may never have attended the first day of classes because she didn’t know how she was going to pay for her classes.
Elsa first started taking courses in the fall 2006 semester. However, her academic performance was poor and her grades suffered. She blamed her performance on not spending a lot of time on campus and not getting involved in student organizations. She also didn’t seek special programs or talk to faculty to get help to improve her grades. Nevertheless, her mom was supportive of her education and she made it a point to keep driving Elsa to campus and kept encouraging her to continue.
Summer of 2007 was a real turning point for her. That summer, she qualified for English 50A and met with a counselor who encouraged her to join the Puente program. She agreed to attend a program orientation to learn more about the program and while she was there, she also learned about the TRIO Student Support Services Program, whose primary focus is to help students transfer to four-year universities. Soon after, she decided to join both programs. In the process, she was encouraged to apply for a campus job with the Extended Opportunity Program and Services (EOP&S). She was offered the position and was recruited into the program. The services that the three programs provided her helped her be successful during the 07/08 academic year. Program personnel encouraged her to engage in campus activities and become more active.
She was also able to clarify her career goals and received timely assistance to complete a Student Education Plan. By the end of the fall ‘07 semester, she began earning A’s and her GPA improved significantly. Two years later, she completed her transfer requirements and applied to four-year universities, was admitted into USC and CSU Fullerton for the fall 2009 term. “I could not have been as successful as I was if it had not been for the support, guidance, and motivation that EOP&S, SSS, and Puente provided me.”
Elsa is a great example and a testament to how successful students can be in the community college when the matriculation process, beginning with Outreach, Admissions and Records, and Student Services departments, work in sync to help students achieve their educational goals. We congratulate Elsa on her accomplishments and wish her great success at CSU Fullerton.
Written by: Gustavo Oceguera
