29 January 2020
English 1A, Professor Marchand
First Essay
R. Davenport 905105246
The public college/university system in California remains one of the
best in the US. The UC system is world-class. The CSU system offers a wellregarded spectrum of undergraduate programs, and the Community
Colleges give students access to a more successful, satisfying future.
California operates 116 different community colleges, and in pre-Covid
numbers, enrolled 2.1 million students, five percent of California residents,
making it the largest State Community College system in the US.
So what does a community college offer to Californians? In a word,
opportunity. It is axiomatic that education equals opportunity, and
community colleges like MPC have an open door for anyone willing to
invest in their future. MPC offers educational pathways to four-year
colleges, career and vocational training, in-demand certification programs,
and mind-expanding coursework in humanities and sciences for lifelong
learners. For me personally, MPC offers redemption, an opportunity to
upskill, to reinvent myself as I work towards a second career.
What follows are my impressions of Monterey Peninsula College and
my opinions as to how MPC measures up to its mission statement of 2008,
taken from the MPC website:
“Monterey Peninsula College is committed to fostering student
learning and success by providing excellence in instructional
programs, facilities, and services to support the goals of students
pursuing transfer, career, basic skills, and life-long learning
opportunities. Through these efforts MPC seeks to enhance the
intellectual, cultural, and economic vitality of our diverse
community.”
The MPC community college is aptly named. It serves the
community. Students may choose from more than 120 major areas of
study, in which one may earn a Certificate of Achievement, of Training, of
Completion, in one of 70-plus disciplines. The Certificate programs are not
trivial - an MPC student who completes a Certificate of Training as a Cisco
Network Technician, for example, can look forward to a starting salary in
the $60K-$75K range, with nearly unlimited growth potential. Alternatively,
one may work toward one of more than 70 Associates’ degree programs,
many of which are structured to facilitate transfer to a four-year school.
By way of background information, I first learned about MPC in
1977, during my senior year in high school. Clint Eastwood’s “The Eiger
Sanction” was playing on the 4:30 movie channel. In this film, Eastwood
plays the role of an Art History professor at MPC. Eastwood’s character has
an interesting personal life in this film, and the more realistic scenes were,
in my opinion, filmed on the MPC campus. 44 years later, I was pleased to
learn that Gamble Madsen now occupies the exact office used by
Eastwood’s Art History instructor in the movie. At present, I am beginning
my second semester st MPC.
Based on documented feedback, MPC gets high marks in serving
the Monterey Peninsula. The median age of Peninsula residents is higher
than average, and MPC’s student makeup reflects this - more than one
fifth of MPC students self-identify as “lifelong learners”. The Monterey
Peninsula is also home to CSU Monterey Bay, and, for the past 25 years,
MPC has built bridges to CSUMB for students intent on transferring.
Finally, another area reflecting MPC’s commitment to its mission
statement is the vocational training programs. For example, I was
interested to learn that MPC nursing students graduate with a higher-than
average acceptance rate when applying for transfer to 4-year nursing
programs.
In conclusion, I believe MPC lives up to its mission statement. My
experience with MPC thus far has yielded positive impressions. The staff
with whom I’ve interacted are consistently professional, caring and
dedicated. I am confident I will get the tools I need at this stage of my life,
and the vibe I get from other students tells me I am not alone.
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