From the beginning, I have been lucky enough to be met with open arms by the counselors and scholarship liaison; they immediately included me in their agendas for the year and made sure I had what I needed to reach out to my students.

They were so good at what they did, that I started getting a little overwhelmed with all of the scholarships, internships, workshops, and application resources that were coming across my desk – I had to figure out a way to keep it organized.

Growing up in a technology friendly house, I’ve always turned to computers to help me set things straight. So naturally, when this problem started to arise, I went back to what I was comfortable with: the internet.

This year, I started a college blog at my site called http://vhscollegecloud.wordpress.com. Wordpress is a fantastic resource for advisers who are looking to create a centralized “cloud” of academic information and here’s a quick run down of how I’ve used it to help students, and staff, stay informed!

The main reason I decided to create this site was so I could eliminate excuses!! I was getting tired of “Oh, I didn’t hear about that…” or “oh, I just didn’t know…” Regardless of how many student meetings I held to remind students of opportunities, the excuses stayed the same. After I organized the site the way I liked, I made an effort to visit classrooms and make announcements saying that the blog was up and available for students/teachers/staff to use – and within 3.5 weeks, I’ve already hit 600 views!

Because this job can be so overwhelming with valuable information, sometimes I remember an opportunity at the most inopportune time; on the weekend, late at night, when I'm walking to and from classes. Having the blog is my safety net and it's a great way for me to remain current on all the information I pass out to students. Regardless of where I am or what I'm doing, If I remember something valuable, I know I can always take out my smart phone, do a quick post, and come back to it to add detail later. My motto: never miss a beat. And this blog helps me stay relevant! 

I know the students are utilizing it and it’s great to have teachers and parents be informed as well. Students have a personal responsibility to seek out opportunities and now, more than ever, they have access to all the information they need!

First and foremost: Wordpress is FREE. Anyone can use it, it’s so easy to navigate, and many smart phones have Wordpress apps, making blog updates so convenient.

• You can start by creating a log in and account here: http://wordpress.com
• Every update that you do, is done from your "dashboard." The dashboard is like your home button!
• From the dash board, you can make new posts, control the look and feel of your blog, manage your settings.
• On the left side of the dashboard, you will see a tab that says “posts.” And under that tab, you'll find something that says, “new posts.” Click that and you’re on your way to creating your own hub of information!

 About Kristi:

Hi all! My name is Kristi Lozano and I am from the Bay Area, California. If there is one word to describe me, I think "random" sums it all up. I grew up in an incredibly diverse household - my mother is Japanese and my father is Mexican! As a result, I was blessed to be raised in a very accepting environment. I had always excelled in academics but when I was younger, my true passion was gymnastics. I trained hard for over 10 years before having to quit due to...old-ageness! The life of a gymnast is short but the lessons I learned from it are timeless. I truly believe that my dedication in the gym and all the lessons I learned from it - perseverance, hard work, and enthusiasm - taught me how to be a fighter. Those qualities were essential to my success in a math and science program and life in general! 

 My advice to you all: Work hard. Never Quit. Enjoy the struggle! 

 Here's a pic of me and my gramps!

Summer of 2006. I’ll never forget it. I was your typical California girl walking through the streets of New York for the first time; so much to see, so much to hear, so much to think. It was one of the hottest evenings I’d ever had to endure; how dare the sun be so cruel.

I was visiting The Big Apple on behalf of Middle College High School, a charter school in San Pablo, CA, with a coworker and my previous Chemistry professor who asked us to represent their tutoring program at the Middle College National Consortium. I just finished getting my AS degree in Mathematics from my local community college, spent numerous hours working with that HS to develop an effective tutoring component for the students, and I was only a few months away from transferring and becoming a Bruin. In fact, the last thing I did before leaving for my trip to NY was submit my passport picture to UCLA for my Bruin Card, which arrived shortly after my return home.

Life was good.  My hard work paid off; and in the back of my mind, all I could think was, “I have no idea how I did it…”

After all, who would of thought this community college kid would ever make it this far in the first place. Statistics say I should have dropped out a long time ago; apparently I had more than enough roadblocks standing in my way to prevent me from obtaining an education. I’m a minority, I went to school in a community more known for its drop out rate than academics, I had to work to support myself through college, and I am a female in math and science. To say I was feeling the pressure is an understatement.

I chatted with my Chemistry professor, Dr. Ledbetter, on the way to my first dinner in NYC about how nervous I was about the move down south – my main concern, though, was how I was going to establish myself as a confident individual in the Applied Mathematics department. Coming from my community college, where the average class size was 12, I had supportive classmates, and I loved the small group dynamic that we worked so hard to build; I knew this was going to be different. How was I going to survive in lecture halls of 700?  Or being a minority in both gender and ethnicity on a much bigger scale? Talk about being a small fish in a big pond.

The whole thing was a blur, really. I remember rambling on and on to Dr. Ledbetter about this transition I was going through and I could feel myself searching for validation. I needed someone to tell me I could do it. I needed someone to say, “Hey, stop freaking out; things will be fine.” I could feel myself getting defensive with his silence as I went through the motions of justifying my decision; I tried to make it seem as if I didn’t think twice about my decision to go. It was like rattling off a laundry list, “I hurried off to Costco to get my 2 passport pictures taken for my Bruin Card before I came here!” Silence. “I sent in forms and registered for orientation too.” Silence.  “Oh and I flew down to the campus for an honors program interview, toured the campus; it’s beautiful and such a prestigious school. I think I’ll really love it there…”

But that’s the thing about love. You get so wrapped up in what’s on the outside that you fail to truly see things for what they actually mean to you.

And in an instant he flipped my entire world upside down; his words hit me like a ton of bricks. He asked, in a very nonchalant way, “Since when have you ever cared about prestige?” And his tone was more curious than interrogating; more inquiring than angry.

My house of cards that I worked tirelessly to build from the ground up, fell. I realized, just like that, that my decision to attend UCLA – and the consideration I gave to UC Davis, Cal Poly, and Berkeley – were based on nothing but prestige. Because somewhere along the line, it had been engraved in me to equate those types of universities, and only those, with success.

But my community college blood runs deep in my veins and I think I knew all along that it was never about choosing the college with the best reputation. It was, and always should be, about choosing the college that was best for me. The competitive, and somewhat cruel nature, of the sciences at the University of California level wasn’t appealing to me. It’s not that I didn’t have it in me to fight, I just didn’t see the value of fighting when I could enroll in a program that wasn’t so cut throat, that was challenging and welcoming at the same time; one that was right for the type of person I am.

So I did just that. When I got back from dinner, I ran straight to the business center at the Roosevelt Hotel in downtown NYC and called the Dean of Student Services to leave a message asking him to fax all my papers – transcripts, degree verification, etc – to San Francisco State University because I had changed my mind.

Sorry, Bruins, I guess I was always a Gator at heart.

All of this seemed to happen in a heartbeat. My family thought it was a rash decision, Dad was going to strangle me (thank God I was in NY!), but I knew it was the right one. The second I hung up the phone, knowing that the Dean would handle everything for me like he always had in the past, I was relieved and eerily calm. I truly believed that now, everything would work out.

But what would I have done if I didn’t apply to SFSU as my then-backup? How would that have changed or altered my life, and would I have even finished college? Let’s be real. The retention rate in Math and Physics is low for a reason: it eats you up, spits you out, and only the strong make it through ANY school’s program. So why make things harder with the competitive nature that I don’t thrive in, anyway? Deep down inside, I knew I just saved myself.

I’ve been able to take my somewhat unconventional road to college and use it as an example for my students as an adviser. You never know what will happen between application time and decision day: cover your bases. Be prepared. Expect the unexpected and you’ll never be caught off guard.

To this day I haven’t regretted my decision; I’m proud of my accomplishments as a Gator and am convinced that the prestige of a particular college should never play a role in choosing one. I made my own successes as the only female and minority to graduate in my department that year, the winner of 2 scholarships from the College of Science and Engineering at SFSU (which helped me get out of college debt free), and, get this: I actually have a full time job! And it’s with UC Berkeley’s Destination College Advising Corps at that.

I encourage all of you brilliant, hardworking, dedicated advisers to have your students dig deeper into their college searches. Let’s get rid of the stigma that community college, or even the State University system, is somehow less than or beneath us. Because if it wasn’t for both of those systems, I may not be where I am today: contemplating a full ride to San Francisco State’s masters program, where I would be studying in a bio mathematics program doing cancer research.

 Four years ago I would have never imagined things would have worked out this way. But words can’t express how thankful I am that it did.

 About Kristi:

Hi all! My name is Kristi Lozano and I am from the Bay Area, California. If there is one word to describe me, I think "random" sums it all up. I grew up in an incredibly diverse household - my mother is Japanese and my father is Mexican! As a result, I was blessed to be raised in a very accepting environment. I had always excelled in academics but when I was younger, my true passion was gymnastics. I trained hard for over 10 years before having to quit due to...old-ageness! The life of a gymnast is short but the lessons I learned from it are timeless. I truly believe that my dedication in the gym and all the lessons I learned from it - perseverance, hard work, and enthusiasm - taught me how to be a fighter. Those qualities were essential to my success in a math and science program and life in general! 

My advice to you all: Work hard. Never Quit. Enjoy the struggle! 

 Here's a pic of me and my gramps!