For the first time at Skyline College, Puente has grown to 2 cohorts serving a total of 52 new Puentistas. With the growing number of Puentistas, comes a newly implanted Puente Student Orientation, which was held on August 22, 2016. During the orientation, Puentistas had the opportunity to build community amongst one another and their instructors, learn specifics about the Puente model, hear from Puente alumni, and learn about campus resources.
As the morning kicked off, students came into the Multicultural Center and were welcomed with pan dulce and hot chocolate, a yummy treat for a cold morning. With many of the Puentistas not knowing one another, they passed a ball around answering questions such as, what’s one of your hidden talents and what is your favorite childhood memory. This got students taking and energized for the rest of the day! As the orientation continued, Puentistas learned specifics about Puente such as Puente History, Puente student transfer rates, and Puente events for the Fall 2016 semester. Learning about the field trips planned that included The Pacific Leadership Institute Ropes Couse on October 5th left Puentistas ecstatic they made the decision to join Puente!
After a short break, students had the opportunity to hear from a Puente Alumni student panel where they got to hear first hand from students who successfully completed the Puente Project and are in the process of transferring or have already transferred and graduated from a 4-year university. The wisdom the Puente Alumni panel shared was extremely valuable for our new Puentistas, many who are entering their first year in college. As the orientation was coming to an end, students were given a presentation from campus resources, EOPS and The Learning Center. Jorge Murillo, Puente Alumni shared the benefits about EOPS and also shared great words of wisdom to our Puentistas. Next, Raymon Gutierrez from The Learning Center shared the benefits to The Learning Center, which included free tutoring!
With the Puente Orientation filled with a lot of valuable information, it left Puentistas more prepared for college and with increased motivation to reach their goals. With such great students in both Puente cohorts, The Puente Team is extremely excited to see what their Puentistas will accomplish this year and in the future.
Written by Alberto Santellan | Photos by Alberto Santellan and Melanie Espinueva+Aure
