By Salvador Esquibel, Alexa Fernandez, and Kaitlyn Espinoza, Courier Staff Writers
From October 11th through 13th, the students of the James Logan Puente Program took a trip to Los Angeles to learn more about the colleges and universities in southern California.
My partner and I were fortunate enough to attend the trip and share our thoughts and feelings about the experience.
Salvador: I am currently one of the Puente students from James Logan. For me personally, the So-Cal trip was a really interesting experience considering the fact that most of the time I was really tired. The first college that we went to was UC Riverside. I felt a very strong connection with this college because I could actually picture myself there. UCR also had many clubs to offer such as ballet folklórico and Chicano studies. My least favorite college was CSU Fullerton because the campus was dirty and old and our tour guides weren’t very sure of what they were doing. Overall it was a real eye opener and made me think of my future. I would encourage anybody to go if eligible.
Kaitlyn: I am also a student in the Puente program and was fortunate enough to get an insight on seven different colleges and universities. After waiting almost 3 years to attend the trip, I can finally say that it definitely was something to look forward to. It was fun to share a room with three other students and create new friendships. On top of the fact that you create new bonds the food was WAY better from the food we receive at school. The only downside from the trip was the long bus ride and the fact that their was annoying people being loud, but beside that , the experience is something that I will never forget.
Many of the colleges left us with positive impressions. The colleges that we visited are ranked high and have competitive requirements. For example, Fullerton College is ranked third in number of transfers to a CSU. USC (University of Southern California) has a 3.75 average unweighted GPA for their incoming freshman class. As Logan students, diversity was another important factor for us to consider. For example, UCSB and Cal Poly show growing diversity in its classes and culture around campus. It was good to know that there wasn’t any widespread discrimination on these campuses against the students or staff.
Going down the line from there left side you have Vanessa G, Stephanie G , Salvador E , Liliana G, and lastly Kaitlyn E. All taking a picture in front of a building in Fullerton.