California’s community colleges are helping millions of people figure out their roads forward—and whether it serves as the first step on a definite path, or as a stepping stone to a new area of interest, community college continues to give people access to a better education, and a better life. <br> <br> Come along for the ride as California community college students Melina, Rodney, and Summer travel across the Golden State to meet alumni from California’s community colleges who are using the power of their education to tackle today’s problems. Through the stories of others—often from communities unlike their own—the roadtrippers’ eyes are opened to all the places their new knowledge can take them. <br> <br />If you’re a parent, teacher, or student looking for educational resources that will help you dive deeper into the topics and themes in this documentary, check out our <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/archive.roadtripnation.com/roadtrip/v2/california-community-college/Community-Driven_Viewing-Guide.pdf" target="_blank">viewing guide.</a> 

Community Driven

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California Community Colleges

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Education can give you the power—community will help you find your purpose.

This summer, I'm traveling in a big, green RV. &gt;&gt; Whoa, it's like super spacious in here. &gt;&gt; And I'm gonna be traveling with. &gt;&gt; Two other community college students throughout the state of California. &gt;&gt; We're gonna be interviewing alumni from California community colleges. &gt;&gt; I am very excited [LAUGH]. I wanna ask them how community college has impacted their lives. &gt;&gt; What their definition of success is, and if they themselves are really living that out. &gt;&gt; I'm on Roadtrip Nation to get words of wisdom from inspirational people. &gt;&gt; [LAUGH] You came to the wrong [LAUGH]. &gt;&gt; [LAUGH] &gt;&gt; Community college is great, because there's very little risk to try out a bunch of different stuff. &gt;&gt; I actually ended up on community college. It was the best thing that happened to me. &gt;&gt; It's still unbelievable [LAUGH] that I'm on this trip. I've been trying to find myself, and who I really am. &gt;&gt; We have a lot of the same interests, and we have a lot of the same insecurities. &gt;&gt; When you attend a community college, sometimes people see it as less than. But I challenge that, because I came from a community college, and now I'm going to law school. We are just as good as anybody else. With a community college degree or without it, we're just as worthy. &gt;&gt; It's put me in position in places where I just never thought that I would end up being in. African American chief of police in Sacramento. I'm really interested to see if he would be authentic. So there are some questions that I have. &gt;&gt; That's something I never really though about before. &gt;&gt; It definitely opened my eyes. [MUSIC] &gt;&gt; These interviews are really empowering [LAUGH]. &gt;&gt; I definitely think that community colleges cultivate more of this mentality. &gt;&gt; Every generation has its own torches to carry, and you have yours. &gt;&gt; But you have to find yourself. &gt;&gt; It really excites me for what I think I wanna do now. I'm ready to be more vulnerable too. &gt;&gt; If we compile all of these interviews until one common theme, it's just like changing the narrative. [MUSIC] 

Community Driven Trailer

I wasn't gonna make it in society of color to have access to education. thankful I went to the junior college. like this small community. you know there's resources. happened to me actually. invested in the future. because there's very little risk to like not not just take a course, and you know I think I like this. I'm travelling in a big green RV. &gt;&gt; Two other throughout the state of California. out what it is that we're trying to do. that I really want. always think I don't deserve things, so in my life eventually. because interviewing influential people Community College might help me get some start my life. I am very excited, [LAUGH] &gt;&gt; I see you. &gt;&gt; [LAUGH] I love it, but then going to a community college. never gonna get out of here. nervous, but I'm also excited to explore different atmospheres from my own town. like who I truly am or haven't found out about it. &gt;&gt; Me, too. whole life, and I don't really travel. it caused a lot of fear in my family. Childhood Arrivals. but to me this is my home. I took AP classes citizen honors classes. signing up for four year colleges. didn't have the income for that. college was and I went and signed up for I like really love that school. I'm majoring in business marketing, involved with activism. but I do have a lot of self doubt. down a lot. like see what the real world is like. all these people were interviewing trip with two new friends that I made. &gt;&gt; I might wake all you all up with this &gt;&gt; Just wake up at 6 AM. city called Columbus, Georgia. a few friends from gun violence. energy coming from where I come from. it could be called anger. trauma, whatever the case may be. how you channel that energy and Orange Coast College's campus, and I took to it quick. foster more activism mentality. like what you do with that lifetime, and behind and make a change in society. head off to San Francisco. area, down the coast, hit LA. we'll be back in OC, where I live. to like interview all these people and I'm going through a lot of changes and in the back of my head, the people that we interview, what their themselves are really living that out. a teacher with revolutionary qualities. then he's also a activist for education. I think I'm more uncertain than certain. am attending Modesto Junior College, to later on get my teaching credential. words of wisdom from inspirational people. &gt;&gt; [LAUGH] So my name is Hasan McWhorter. to adult school. &gt;&gt; Yeah, I've taught every level. California. family to graduate high school. probably with a D average. with not my intelligence, with my life at the time. assaulted and he died about a month later. that I wasn't gonna make some type of education. somebody put on a public access station, it was a going joke at the time. something from a black man? I have to educate myself, I end up at Compton Community College. was the right choice for you? glimpses of who we are. asked them who they want to be. that sought truth and the danger of education. gather information and knowledge and and knowledge and you can trick people. is standardizing them are empowering. I've always broken the rules. &gt;&gt; You? maybe all the mistakes that you made. I guess the number one mistake, well, not loving me. &gt;&gt; Yeah, because a student asked me once, process to know I'm beautiful, the world opens up to each one of you. to make the world different. the world better watch out. &gt;&gt; Anywhere I want. to be is the person you were born to be. was a lot between me him that was he did. my inner city, low income, to be self destructive. to people that destroyed lives. that like your origin is only then you see nothing but poverty. crack is walking around. people that's around you or yourself. So you won't see value in the mirror. did was like love yourself. I wouldn't satisfy the life I was living. stuff in high school. I was kinda lost. make some extra money, selling drugs and running from the cops for multiple times. impact from police brutality in 2005. accumulated throughout my life. older, I felt like I had to move away. that my city seems to put people in. provide just an example of success a prominent drug dealer or free for my family to make a way out. place in terms of police American chief of police in Sacramento. man by the Stefan Card. tough questions to ask. ask those questions. if he would be authentic and political role and put on like a PR. police chief, have over 1000 people. bit about yourself, your upbringing. because I was adopted by my mom and from foster home to foster home. some might consider a rough neighborhood. started in Oak Park. prostitution on our corner. of our house when I was eight home from church and the liquor store across the street. the Sacramento police department. &gt;&gt; Kind of ironic. being police officers like it's not point or like a specific, moment that &gt;&gt; I became a police officer by I always knew I wanted to have options. college when is a lot cheaper. one of the local malls, and to the academy, they pay $8.14 an hour, just by going to the academy. passionate about all my life. officer where I never police officer that was because I started working with the community, and ran that as a police officer. I've been at school a really long time bachelors degrees, and all that. I never dreamed of being. because when I grew up, did was drive around in squad cars. I probably thought harassed people. The police hasn't been a bright one. interaction could end up in my demise. you understand the history of inception being the slave patrols, or suppressing slave revolts. with being tied to a system of your own people? that we often fail to deal with, with differences very well. up in ways that you said, or the slave patrols, that have happened in this country. is not just a law enforcement issue, African American Chief in Roseville, but officer period in Roseville in 2011. African American Chief here. hey Chief, to one of the Captains. would kind of look uneasy. &gt;&gt; [LAUGH] be the last one they came to. &gt;&gt; And so things like that. over, you start to wonder, &gt;&gt; Yeah. there's a good chance that it exists hire human beings that are from society. continue to deal with what you said. try to do, with the rest of my career. close to doing when I was in the Academy. where we put our officers to walk in a neighborhood that they're not from. with them the following month in every one of our officers now. we had no body cameras on anybody. that comes out and speaks to the Academy. got to prison, what made them change. about how they started out. earlier in their lives, that they committed, but those crimes committed. many programs here, like the ride alongs and stuff like that. those genuine relationships, of both parties. of African Americans in general. or that's been kind of perpetuated. he cares about the community, about the community too much. myself in the mirror and that's looking back at me. what I thought was right, all that. hold people accountable. don't get in trouble. to be we move forward together, and we don't ever talk to each other. that we know our history and more important, that okay, then now what? we don't repeat that history, and &gt;&gt; Good luck thought provoking conversation, what I found out. the police but, I like Daniel, he's dope. &gt;&gt; [LAUGH] he made a lot of enemies. there was a lot of crime, and a lot of of, they had to get married young. us over here for a better chance. like if I was born here. because this isn't my country, I guess. of who I was, being undocumented, my grandmas when I was little. with them when I was little, but meant that I couldn't go back to my sacrificing everything. they never like, pressured me or from the other side of the border. she actually passed away last month. student is, it's full of sacrifices. my grandma knew that, and that's why we have to be successful here. and she is a novelist, and about immigration. really talk to people with the same &gt;&gt; Hello, how are you? &gt;&gt; My name is Reyna Grande, and became a published author, to your day as a writer. act of writing, but one time when I woke up Kansas City, I fell asleep in Denver, Colorado. the state of Guerrero. family immigrated and my father. across the border. experience of becoming border-crossers, the eyes of American society, an undocumented child immigrant. my life and I write a lot about that. of the immigrant community. my writing is activism. I went through a similar experience. this is all I've ever known, like this land didn't belong to me. you know what's so, so sad for experience that in this country. to your native country, in your native country, you also start not Mexican enough anymore. where do you belong? thing that happened to me actually. is that it really does feel like protected, you feel supported. it was my English professor, told me I had writing talent. never really read Latino literature. books written by Latino writers, me that at one point she also took situation at home was really bad. I lived with my English teacher. similar grants. to cross, the US Mexico border, but after still so many other borders to cross. there's a cultural border, education. you want it documented. to help you get across those borders. did have teachers that helped me. read in schools a lot. to take away from your work? message is that you need to continue to pursue your dreams tries to take our dreams from us. and 26 rejected it. number 27, say yes [LAUGH]. you could get hundreds and all you need is one yes. have a job that pays the bills, every day and be thankful. know that it is possible and able to share the same experiences with made me feel less ashamed. her counsellors. have to ask for help too and hearing Molina and many stories, we saw the fireworks together. that would like to particularly amused. myself, my own culture, my own history. an Independence Day that wasn't my own. how it didn't reach a certain demographic. around with that lens. you walk around, and you're just like, when you become more aware of things. being at a community college. channel this frustration channel, &gt;&gt; Even now, somebody made a comment that said like sometime come in like that. I feel that I've never wanted to hear. community regardless of what group they're we argue about transgender, gay, ask yourself, why the hell did we care? I live my life. respect, and I'll do the same. we never have, we never have. they would bright and out about it too much. &gt;&gt; So go against the grain, that I'm on this trip. life and, you know, what's going on. seen a lot of it was like amazing. have never seen anything like it like you go from like, mountains in the Redwoods ocean scenery, giant waterfalls. different worlds all together to Laney College, and we interviewed Adam. you a little bit about grinding, just to hear being a machinist, I hope you learned something. at Laney College in the machine by all these lovely industrial machines. I went to a four year university. what I think most humanities majors do. I did not. depressed there you know, and wife gave me the best gift that anyone's college, she said I'll pay for any class found my way into the machine shop. about this stuff and you know really fell in love with it. consistent geometric shapes. we ware the safety glasses? got you so passionate about it, just took the class. my impression of kind of dull and mindless, you know? be further from the truth. kind of intellectual and like using tools to build something and mechanical problems solving, kind of challenge before. there's very little risk to try out present of my life right, to learn something new. little cool other parts, inspection tools, to find something like that but into an extremely cold river. &gt;&gt; [LAUGH] all right Melena, your next. she struggles with pushing herself to doing things on her own. because she kind of questions herself and we talked about this, Melina. &gt;&gt; This is the moment right here, &gt;&gt; [SOUND] this was not scary at all. safe bubble for too long. go places. miss home and like we miss our parents and independent like taking it all in. I'm looking at San Jose State. supportive of me leaving. too comfortable in community college. into English class and said to me was like, because I've been here for to get out or something like that. city it can be very different, the atmosphere and stuff. me to adapt. like high school teacher or something. in the back of my head that not now. &gt;&gt; Nice to meet you. who was a interpreter at Hearst Castle. crazy like even the drive up. crib I've seen in my life. like when he first moved to Bel Air. Randolph Hearst, who was a media mogul. &gt;&gt; Go ahead if you want. Yeah. three movie production studios. and everything was real pieces of history. mind about things on the house quite he's gonna go talk to his architect. both my parents were teachers. that wanted to be a teacher. Modesto Junior College. it's very similar to teaching. conducting and they're going to be conducting. to the people you're talking to. than making a big paycheck. educates people on the history of places. and I really love history. switching to being an interpreter. we took a big drive down to LA. [LAUGH] which I was proud of her. the coast, to city, and now we're here. I struggled a lot with picturing it, what I'm gonna be doing. DACA right away gave me something like kind of up in the air. it away, you just go back to your life. gonna be like, I'm not gonna be able to my family, [LAUGH] I'm gonna be hiding. that I was gonna be gone in a second, who I can relate with. to know every single step of the way. the Center for Community Action and &gt;&gt; Melina, I'm Erica, and what you do, and your work? Riverside County. organizing director here at the Center for Environmental Justice. impacted by various forms of environmental really what drives me. you could explain to us your journey, and I discovered that I was undocumented. because my mom didn't speak English. I don't have a social security. then you can't go to college. color, specifically women of color, you can really be empowered through that. I registered for community college. college did change my life. very interested in the law. now I'm the only undocumented to pursue law school and make it into law school. could go to law school. is really exciting. 16 to apply for DACA, but when it happened, and I wouldn't even go to class anymore. sorry, I'm working on this. I was on track. trying to figure out who I was. I thought I was unstoppable. out of bed and go to class. you for sharing part of your story. the new president, I cried for gonna happen, I just did not feel safe. days that that was not the way to live. giving a lot of my power away to yes, legally they may removing me or keeping me here. I cannot be living subject to those fears. that exists or may not exist for us. and you're worthy. sometimes people see it as, I don't subscribe to that. and I'm now going to law school. a community college degree or without it. and we're just as worthy. tell them I'm scared, you do that. you go online, you look it up, you with someone, we'll figure it out. &gt;&gt; I get that impression. &gt;&gt; Coming from you all. [MUSIC] it was everything I wanted to be. what she's doing was possible. also be proud of who she is, my community, like I can do something. Rodney about, I don't know. you need to express yourself and stuff, you need to find yourself too. I've been trying to find myself. like what I believe in and stuff and from what I've been hearing and at the Museum of Tolerance. creative arts director. my town is very Republican. like I don't really have a side or people and hearing their experiences, it definitely opened to my eyes. of moving from my small town. are different than theirs. from everyone in your life and be your self and knowing what is for even your parents who say they know you so what's good for you and what you love, many people throughout your life that say, you'll never be able to do that. were really close to you. to educate people on tolerance and the understanding of different cultures. and went to community college and I wanted to do in my life, that you're not your parents, you wanna birth in your life. successful at the end of the day, it is the last day of the trip. who's co founder of Telemundo. all jump in the bed together and &gt;&gt; How are you? we were both my mom and to the United States in the 1930s. she was pregnant with me when he died. raised my brother and I. then I went into the Air Force. at East LA college from East LA college. where I got my first degree, got all of these kids named Gutierrez and Chavez in front of me in the classroom. history classes, 11th grade and textbooks that deals with immigration. how the Germans came to America. America and I said a different way, but Mexican American kids like me. history is all about immigration wise. a stumbling block with my students. about their background? then she looked at me, she says, well, Mr. Mexican immigration to the United States. I get a call one day, voice says are you Mr Cruz? course in my life. of the mic to hold, right? my career changes. I am telling you I covered Latino, waves just like they're occurring now. this guy here under my shirt and was raiding churches and schools, and Five years and where I was there for ten years. why the hell can't I do it? that kind of a thing. borrowed $30 million and we picked it up, lit it up. back to the funding sources. set up and built Telemundo. the founders of Telemundo. &gt;&gt; I feel like your educational background level of integrity on provide to the public, your own text book in a way from takes a higher level of integrity and challenge the status quo like that. inspiration from the times when walkouts to your high level education? no question in my mind. tumultuous period of time. each, the envelope further and further. in 243 years who would ever have thought we have with this mixture of people. can you drive a block that way and way to a Jewish synagogue, that way to Church all within a striking distance. too many countries that can do that. education. it to continue to grow and people have to get educated and a system we have in this country. own torches to carry. I just tell my kids, of representation for he wrote a whole textbook. you know what he did? whether they're doing one thing or &gt;&gt; They're all involved with their who really wanna make things fair. fighting the power. other people might fight it by protesting. it in the courtroom. like they've all been, more fuel to the fire. because this is the last day and I'm sad. &gt;&gt; I'm still a little stressed about college to a university, but switch my major to that. you will discover new ideas, and remember this forever. helping my community. a class to just get a little sense of it. like want more for yourself, and community colleges cultivate. who want to change that narrative. about it and make a change in society, people that's coming from through that school system. permeate into these spaces. that narrative, you know based on that access. do the same thing. And when you get to life, do the same thing. yourself and at peace with the world or 

California has always represented exciting new possibilities—and today, its community colleges are keeping that tradition alive. Explore the state through the eyes of three California community college students, as they take a road trip to discover where their paths will take them next. 

California Community College Roadtrip

STOPS & INTERVIEWS

STOPS & INTERVIEWS

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