Bragging Rights: December 2024

A counselor publishes a book to guide young adults starting their education/career. An Accounting prof. has a piece published about his journey from community college to Stanford.

Christina Sandoval

Christina Sandoval's book

Dorothy Chin

Lynn Dickinson's book

Mario Padilla

SMC counselor Christina Sandoval has published her first book in the hopes of providing a meaningful guide for young adults starting their education and career. What I Wish I Knew Back Then: Create a Career & Life You Loveis now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other book retailers. Christina holds a Certified Career Counselor credential with the National Career Development Association. Congrats!
Accounting professor Enrique Lopez was featured in Uprooted Academy’s article, “From Community College to Stanford MBA” about his journey from, well, community college to Stanford. The Academy works with first-gen students to help them transition to four-year institutions. They interviewed Enrique to share his advice to community college students as they make their transition to a four-year institution. Congrats, Enrique!
Media Management and Sales faculty member Lynn Dickinsonwas the first guest to be interviewed on the California Community Colleges’ new Innovating Higher Education Podcast. Lynn was interviewed by Norma Jones about her book (How to Use ChatGPT (and Other Large Language Models) as a Teaching Assistant: a Guidebook for Higher Education Faculty) and her work as an international keynote speaker, helping educators worldwide to learn about effective, appropriate, and ethical ways of using Artificial Intelligence in their teaching.
Also, here at SMC, Lynn and Education and Early Childhood Chair Gary Huff are currently co-teaching the inaugural section of EDUC 50 - Teaching in the Age of AI, a three-unit class for faculty members ready to integrate AI into their own classes. Gary and Lynn will be offering two more, eight-week sections of the online, asynchronous class in the Spring 2025 semester. Interested faculty members are required to apply/enroll in the college as an SMC student, prior to registering for the class.
Fashion Department Chair Lorrie Ivas is pleased to report the following: Textile Professor Robin Lake’s students won awards in Nextile’s national Soy Textile Design Challenge. Joey Becerra’s Bio-vera™ outerwear piece with hand-finished detail and Elaine Justine Pagtalunan’s leaf motif convertible purse impressed judges!
- Professor Susan Kolko authored Adaptive Fashion: How People with Disabilities Experience Clothing, available this Spring. Congratulations!
- And finally, Lorrie welcomed Omar Albertto, founder of Omar’s Men—which represents ethnically diverse male models—spoke to a packed hall of SMC students and industry professionals regarding his work with master photographers.
Psychology professor Dorothy Chin has been reelected for a second term to the executive board of the American Psychological Association (APA) Division of Trauma Psychology (DIV 56). In this upcoming term, the Division will focus on issues related to the latest presidential election and what the new political landscape will mean in terms of cultural, social, collective, and individual trauma.
English and Creative Writing instructor Mario René Padilla's new story "Towel Collector" has been accepted for publication in Tulip Tree Publishing's annual story contest Stories That Need to Be Told 2024. Mario’s anthology is available on Amazon; also, recent books and previous published stories and contest winners can be found on his Amazon author's page: com/author/mariorenepadilla.
Spanish professor Alejandro Lee has several brags! He was invited to present on “AI for Productivity and Support” at the panel titled “Adopt, Adapt, Achieve: Leveraging AI for Language Mastery in Community Colleges” by the ACTFL Community College Special Interest Group on Sept. 12, 2024.
- Along with Hugo Díaz-Rodil (Sierra College and American River College), Sarah Harmon (Cañada College), and Cristina Moon (Chabot College), Alejandro was invited to present “From Textbook to Homework: A Collaborative Journey in Developing Our Spanish OER Projects with LibreTexts” at the International Association for Language Learning Technology (IALLT) on Oct. 4, 2024.
- Alejandro represented the SMC Department of Modern Languages and Cultures’ Spanish program at the first Virtual Programs Fair sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) on Oct. 5, 2024.
- Alongside Hugo Díaz-Rodil (Sierra College and American River College), Sarah Harmon (Cañada College), and Cristina Moon (Chabot College), Alejandro presented “Getting to Zero from Textbook to Homework: A Collaborative Journey in Developing Our Spanish OER” at the Open Education Conference on Oct. 9, 2024. And on Oct.17, 2024, also with professors Diaz-Rodil, Harmon, and Moon, Alejandro presented “Transforming Spanish Language Education: Creating and Implementing OER in California Community Colleges” at the SUNY OER Summit 2024 conference.
- Sybil Alexandrov (Yale University) and Alejandro were invited to present “‘No es nula su huella: La diáspora asiática en Hispanoamérica: Inclusión, relevancia y recursos,” for the Sheri Spaine Long Professional Development Series sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) on Oct. 11, 2024.
- With Hugo Díaz-Rodil and Sarah Harmon, Alejandro presented “Getting Spanish to Zero-Textbook-Cost (ZTC) Through Open Educational Resources (OER)” at the California Community College Foreign Language Council (CCCFLC) annual conference held at Glendale Community College on Oct.19, 2024.
- And finally, along with Dr. Eugenia Fernandes (Florida International University) and Dr. José Luis Garrido Rivera (Mercer University), Alejandro will be a guest editor for the 2025 issue of the Revista Luso-Hispánica (RLH), a new student publication from the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP).
- Professor Lee is also delighted to share the following terrific news about his current and former students: Gabriel Pearson, David Rodríguez, and Connor Smith were guest speakers for the “Real-World Language Use: Journeys from Learning to Lifelong Use” panel at the first Virtual Programs Fair sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) on Oct. 5, 2024. The panelists were asked to “share their learning experiences and discuss how their proficiency in Spanish has enriched their personal and professional lives.” Congratulations to Gabriel, David, and Connor for their outstanding academic and personal achievements!

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Barber Professor Jacqueline Monge demonstrating clipper over comb technique

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Bragging Rights

A counselor publishes a book to guide young adults starting their education/career. An Accounting prof. has a piece published about his journey from community college to Stanford. Read Article

Cultural Exchange

SMC student Aldo Barrera is teaching English in Spain, sharing his knowledge about the United States while learning about Spanish culture. Read Article