The newly elected officers of the Northwest Vista Student Government Association took the oath of office at the NVC Interclub Council meeting in Huisache Hall on Tuesday, October 21.

The Executive Committee of the NVC SGA consists of President Rachel Harlin, Vice President John Overmeyer, Senator of Business and Treasury Brandi Kemp, Senator of Curriculum and Instruction Ashley Price, Senator of Campus Operations Jorge Torres, Senator of Student Activities Adan Guadarrama, and Senator of Student Services Miguel Castro.

The recently formed NVC SGA approved a draft constitution, which still needs approval by the college administration, at its meeting on Oct. 7.  The SGA meets every other Tuesday at 5pm in the Student Innovation Center at the back of the open computer lab adjacent to Juniper Hall.  All NVC students, faculty and staff are welcome.  Follow the NVC SGA online at:www.vistastudentgovernment.wordpress.com

The men’s and women’s NVC Cross Country teams competed against the Southwest Texas Junior College team on Sept. 27, on a short 2-mile course.

The NVC women covered the 2-mile course beating the SWTJC team and taking the race championship. The team was lead by Karla Cortez in a time of 13:15, followed by Toni Lindsay, Colleen Rojas, Daisy Rojas, and Rachael Benito in 2^nd, 4^th, 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th place respectively.

The men’s team was lead by Norby Salazar running a 10:33 2-mile time. Directly behind Norby in 5th overall place, was Vince Del Piño with a time of 10:37. Adam Soto finished in 6^th place followed by Jamaal Buchanan and Sergio Luera in 8^th, and 9^th, respectively. Diego Barba placed 11^th for NVC followed by Aaron Beattie, David Gonzales, Micah Florence, Pete Valdez, Patrick Gonzales, James Thedford, Chris Vasquez and Kris Maya in 12^th, 13^th, 14^th, 15^th, 16^th, 18^th, 19^th, and 20^th respectively.

The NVC men’s Cross Country team participated in the Incarnate Word Cross Country Invitational on Oct. 11. The men placed 13^th in the team rankings. The team was lead by Sergio Luera running the 8k race in a time of 29:23. Sergio was followed by teammates Diego Barba, Norby Salazar, Adam Soto, Aaron Beattie, Vince Del Pino, Jamaal Buchanan, Robert Barrasa, Pete Valdez, Jonah Wascheck and Chris Vasquez in 122^nd, 126^th, 138^th, 142^nd, 149^th, 155^th, 159^th, 164^th, and 166^th, respectively.

The women’s team was represented by Karla Cortez. Karla ran the 6K course in the pouring rain finishing in a time of 30:23.

At Northwest Vista College, opportunities are available for all students. Northwest Vista not only offers education at a low rate, they offer nothing but the best teachers. Northwest Vista offers quality education regardless of any social class.

Compared to other colleges such as public, in state schools, the annual tuition is almost $8,000. When compare to Alamo Colleges, which is an average of $2,000 that is a $6,000 difference. We all have other expenses and responsibilities we need to attend to, and I’m sure most of them require money.

Imagine having $6,000 extra to pay off a car bill or house payment. To me that sounds like great deal. The average cost for a public college, out of state is about $25,000.  By going to the Alamo Colleges, you can save $23,000, which is money that can be used for other purposes.

There are also other opportunities that can help you with your finances for school, such as scholarships. The Alamo Colleges has a wonderful database full of scholarships that anyone can apply for. They have a variety of scholarships, so that any student can find at least a few that they are eligible for. Money should never be an excuse to not continue your education because there are always ways to make it work at Northwest Vista.

– NVC Student Tiffany Rico
Wildcat Mentor & Public Relations Work Study

3rd in a series of posts. To see 2nd post, click here.

Two weeks before the Fall 2013 priority registration became available, I was obsessively looking at all the different classes I could take that would cover my basics and my electives.

About a week before registering, I contacted my academic advisor (my instructor) and asked if I could meet with him to discuss choices for future classes. We met in his office and talked more about the general field of Psychology. I gave him a general description of what I wanted to do. I want to work with military families, specifically the spouses. There are always people out there for service members to go to. Rarely do you find someone or someplace that really caters to the military spouse. When I needed the support, I was looked-over or turned away. I would not want anyone go through what I did.

After listening to a part of my story and aspirations, my instructor looked over the different classes available to me and helped me choose the right courses. Because I was straight-forward about what I wanted to do as a career, I registered for classes that would benefit me and help me receive an associate degree. I signed up for two psychology courses that will definitely prepare me for more in-depth psychology courses at a senior institution.

Sometimes it’s difficult to look inside ourselves to find out what we really want to accomplish in our lives. It’s even harder to explain it to someone else. It’s important to get the assistance of an advisor or a mentor, even if you feel like you know what you’re doing. It’s especially important to those who are just beginning their college career. If you keep quiet about your thoughts, feelings, desires, likes, and dislikes, you’ll end up following the wrong path—or no path at all.

By Gerona Nylander
NVC Student & Public Relations Administrative Assistant

2nd Part in a Series. To see first post, click here.

I had a slow start with my degree completion plan. At the time, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life. Since I had some experience in the medical field, I thought I should study something along those lines. So in the Fall of 2012, I decided to take one class—Anatomy & Physiology I. I wanted to ease myself back into the classroom. I was nervous and thought I would feel out of place. I didn’t quite have the “first-time-in-college” look, if you know what I mean. I quickly realized that age, gender, and appearance didn’t matter. We were all there for one thing—to further our education.  Within the first two weeks into the semester, I became more confident and truly believed I had the potential to obtain a degree from NVC.

In the Spring 2013 semester, I took a leap of faith and registered for two classes—Anatomy &Physiology II and General Psychology. I’ve always had a passion for Psychology, but I never pursued it. With the influence of the classroom environment (and a very animated instructor), my love for psychology overcame me and put the medical field on the back burner.

One day, I requested a meeting with my instructor to talk about my newfound aspirations. At that point, it seems like I unknowingly “hired” him as my academic advisor. When we were talking, the question of what I wanted to be when I grow up came to the surface. I told him a very specific job title in a very specific field of psychology. He helped me realize that each step toward degree completion would allow me to gradually narrow my choices of specializations or fields. He also spoke to me about future courses I would take and which ones would help in the Psychology field (like Ethics, etc.). Whether it be an advisor or an instructor, it’s always good to have someone help you to pave your path to the right degree.

– Gerona Nylander
NVC Student and PR Admin Assistant

Northwest Vista Cross Country teams competed in their first race of the semester on Sept. 19, 2014.

The women and men competed in the UTSA Ricardo Romero 5k race.  The women were led by Karla Cortez with a time of 24:00 min, placing 45^th overall in the Non Div I ranking.  Cortez was followed by teammate Liz Emerson in 52^nd place, Toni Lindsay, Rachael Benito, and Daisy Rojas in 56^th, 57^th, and 60^th place, respectively.

The NVC men were led by Vince Del Piño running the 5k course in a time of 18:08 and earning 43^rd place.  Following Del Pino was Sergio Luera in 63^rd, Adam Soto, Jamaal Buchanan, Aaron Beattie, Robert Barrasa, Pete Valdez, Jonah Waschek, and James Thedford in 66^th ,68^{th ,}79th^, 80^th, 83^rd, 86^th and 89^th respectively.

The NVC Student Government Association meets every other Tuesday at 5 pm in Juniper Hall, room  106F.  The next meeting is tomorrow, Sept. 23.  Meetings are tentatively scheduled for:

• Sept. 23
• Oct. 7
• Oct. 21
• Nov. 4
• Nov. 18

Here’s the new Northwest Vista College Student Government Association officers for Fall 2014- Spring 2015:

President: Rachel Harlin; [email protected]

Vice President: John Overmeyer; [email protected]

Senator of Business & Treasury: Brandi Kemp; [email protected]

Senator of Student Activities: Adan Guadarrama; [email protected]

Senator of Public Relations: Maise Edwards; [email protected]

Senator of Curriculum & Instruction: Ashley Nicole Price; [email protected]

Senator of Campus Operations: Jorge Torres; [email protected]

Senator of Student Services: Vacant

Advisor: Craig Coroneos; [email protected]

Advisor: Gary Bowling; [email protected]

– Contributed by NVC Public Relations

When I first started attending Northwest Vista College as a student, my main goal was to get through my workload and making money. Isn’t that every student’s goal?

I thought to myself, how am I going to manage a job and a full school load. I had friends who worked and went to school, and they had a lot of difficulty trying to manage their schedule. I didn’t want to be that student who got all caught up in work and had no time to finish school, which is the most important thing right now. I thought it would be a miracle if I could find a job that worked with my schedule and also give me time to work on my homework and studying. That’s when I learned about the work study jobs that Northwest Vista offers to students.

A work study job is a part-time job that is offered within the departments at Northwest Vista College. In my opinion it was the greatest discovery ever because I get to go to school and conveniently walk to work after my classes. The departments work great with your school schedule and most importantly you are making money. Not to mention the great experience I gained from working here. When I first started working as a work study in the public relations department, I had no idea what public relations was. All I knew was that it dealt with relating to the public. I have experienced things that I never thought I would experience, such as working on media sites to promote the school and even working with TV stations for promotional purposes.

After working as a work study for two years, I have gained so much knowledge and skills that will follow me throughout my life. I have met so many people that I never thought I would interact with; and I also learned more about promotion than I ever thought I would. This wonderful experience has made a huge impact on me and has made me second think my major. I believe that students should take advantage of these work study opportunities. Who knows, maybe you might like the department you work in, and might want to change your major. Click here to see all the work study positions. Just select work study in the “Job Category.”

– NVC Student Tiffany Rico
Wildcat Mentor & Public Relations Work Study

The Wildcat Mentor program is a great experience that benefits all students, no matter what semester they are in. Whether you are a mentor or part of a mentor group, you will surely gain valuable knowledge that will follow you through your college years.

This is my first semester being a part of the mentor group, and I already have gained so much from it. We, mentors, have received the opportunity to have guest speakers from around the United States come and train us. Also not to mention the hours of training we have received from the best here at NVC.

This program targets students who might need a little more help than others, or even just encouragement. The mentors get assigned to a SDEV class, whichever class best works for your schedule, and we work with the teacher to help incoming students have the best college experience they could ever have. Out of all the students in the class, we mentors, select a smaller group of students that might need a little more help than others. We then meet with this group once a week and discuss various things, such as anything that they want to address, or even things such as resume building. The possibilities are endless, and that is why I love being a mentor, I get to plan out the meetings according to the group’s needs.

Being a mentor has many benefits. It’s a great experience that will look good on your resume. You are able to meet new people and develop friendships you never thought you would have. It also helps you be more confident in speaking in front of people.

There are also many benefits an incoming student can get by joining a mentor group. Mentors try to give as much encouragement as we possibly can because we understand students come from a variety of backgrounds and have many responsibilities in addition to school. It might also be hard as a new student to meet new people, and that’s what we are here for, to help you create friendships that will follow you through college. We are here to connect with the students, and guide them on the right track.

– Tiffany Rico
Wildcat Mentor