Authors' Raffle to Benefit Students
in Writing Programs at LA Community Colleges
By Kathe Gogolewski
When nine authors teamed up to present a raffle benefiting students in
writing programs at the Los Angeles Community Colleges, they donated
gifts and autographed copies of their books for prizes. As the word about
the raffle spread, so did the enthusiasm, and the donation list expanded to
include nineteen authors and an array of fifty-three prizes to beckon
potential winners, including two in which a winner’s name is written into a
novel.
The inspiration behind the project came easily for donors, who responded
to the idea that deserving LA Community College students will receive
writing scholarships from 100% of the raffle proceeds. Alexandra Maeck,
head of the English Department at Los Angeles City College (LACC), one
of nine colleges in the District, said, “It is the students who make LACC a
remarkable institution.” Classrooms, she says, are filled with students of
differing ethnic, economic, and age diversities. They take classes because
“they can get in, they can afford it, and they can work at the same time.”
75% of their students are low income, 74% are first generation college
students, and 77% are minorities.
At present, a Community College student in California faces the threat of
fee increases from $26 a unit to $33. According to a statement posted on
the budget update page of the Community College League of California
website, “many college officials believe there is a demand of students, who,
if the funding is provided and fees not increased, (will) continue to seek
access to higher education.” Many do seek this access in spite of the
challenges.
Marianna Melik-Bakhshyan and Juan Moran, two LACC students, are
among them. They have embraced the opportunities and programs
available to them at the college and are gustily reaping the benefits. As
partners on a debate team, they have won top awards across the country.
They placed first in the Novice Division at the University of Berkeley, and at
the Northern California Forensic Association Tournament at the University
of Pacific in Stockton. They were also the first community college team in
twenty-five years to break in the elimination rounds at the national level of
competition held in Georgetown University this year. Both Juan and
Marianna are also gainfully employed in the campus “English Writing
Center” tutoring other students.
Yet, achieving this status has not been a simple exercise for either of them.
Juan details a childhood that was “very ordinary” he said, until he reached
high school. There, he immersed himself in speech and debate, honors
advanced placement coursework and academic decathlons, and a world of
pressure. “I was militantly pursuing academia” he said, and in an effort to
live up to everyone else’s expectations, “wasn’t paying attention to myself.”
He paid a price for that neglect as he became increasingly more involved
with drugs, “to drown out my feelings.” As a result, by the time he was a
junior, he had become a “habitual user of pot”, or marijuana. It was, he
says, “my drug of choice.” No longer willing and able to sustain the
pressures of his junior year, Juan left school and went to live with his father,
who had separated from Juan’s mother when he was 9.
Juan credits his father as the “catalyst” that turned him around and set him
on the right path. It was “the power of love”, he says, that provided him with
the impetus to change. He joined a recovery program and “got closer to my
father. He helped me personally rather than academically.” This time, when
Juan returned to school, he was prepared. He started courses at LACC,
received his GED and has thrived ever since on the curriculum and
guidance he has received from the college. He eventually plans to attend
law school.
For Marianna, the struggle began three and half years ago when her family
traveled from Armenia for “political and economic reasons.” Both parents
wanted their four daughters to receive a higher education in America.
Marianna, who is the oldest, had already graduated from high school in
Armenia, but she enrolled in an American high school to improve her
English language skills.
She attended high school for two years while simultaneously completing
coursework at LACC. She says the American system of education is
“awesome” and very different from the schools in Armenia. Here, every
student “has independence of his or her own” and stands on “their own two
feet.” She says she, too, became “independent” and “did everything by
myself.”
Now, just three and half years after arriving in the United States, she helps
students on campus in both the “English Writing Center” and as a mentor in
the Supplemental Instruction/Mentor Academy Program where she
accompanies students to their classes, interprets lectures and helps with
homework. Marianna also plans to complete an undergraduate education
program and attend law school.
Undoubtedly, many deserving students fill the classrooms and hallways on
the nine campuses in the LA Community College District, but according to
Maeck, “nothing like this raffle has ever been done before.” While grants
and loans exist to aid students, their financial needs remain constant, and
awards such as this one can allow students to devote more time to their
studies.
The English Department at LACC includes English and ESL disciplines as
well as creative writing and literature courses. The department hosts an
annual writing contest with an awards ceremony. Students in the creative
writing class regularly give readings at Skylight Bookstore, an independent
bookstore near the campus. Faculty and other authors also sponsor writing
workshops for the students.
Authors and raffle organizers include Kathe Gogolewski, Ann Durand,
Marilyn Peake, Sandra Leigh, K. L. Nappier, Carolyn Howard-Johnson,
Susan Merson, Sheri McGathy, and Peter Prellwitz. Tickets may be
purchased online at Double Dragon Publishing at double-dragon-ebooks.
com. Click on Feeling Lucky? Or they may be bought at the LA Times Book
Festival at the Author’s Coalition Booth, Booth 610, Zone F next to Barnes
and Noble. Checks, payable to the California Community College
Foundation may also be mailed to TRI Studio, 4978 Marin Dr. Oceanside,
CA 92056. One ticket will be awarded for every dollar submitted. Buy ten
tickets and receive an extra two, free of charge. Charitable donation
receipts issued.
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