When David Haile first stepped into a dance class at Grossmont College, he had no idea it would lead him to the biggest stage in the world. Haile grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan and never envisioned a career in dance.  

Besides dancing in his bedroom growing up, dance wasn’t even part of his life until he took a hip-hop choreography class at Grossmont College in 2017. Encouraged by a classmate, he signed up for the course taught by Melissa Adao, a faculty member who quickly became a mentor. 

“I didn’t even know what an eight-count was,” Haile said. “I had rhythm from growing up in a musical family, but choreography was a whole new world to me.” 

Now, the Grossmont College alumnus has danced at Coachella, toured internationally, and most recently, performed alongside Kendrick Lamar at the Super Bowl halftime show.  

While Haile was a student at Grossmont College, Adao recognized his natural talent and encouraged him to join Grossmont College’s advanced hip-hop class. Haile quickly found his passion and began performing in Grossmont College’s dance concerts and on-campus performances.  

“Grossmont created a safe space for me to explore dance. It was the first place where I really felt I belonged,” he said. “I finally found my group of people, and to this day, I still talk to and hang out with the friends I made there.” 

Fueled by his newfound passion, Haile expanded his dance experience beyond Grossmont College. He trained at local studios, joined competition teams, and made frequent trips to Los Angeles to take advanced dance classes. Eventually, he joined prestigious dance groups and began going to auditions in Los Angeles.  

His perseverance paid off. In 2022, Haile signed with a dance agency, and in 2023, he landed his first major industry gig: performing at Coachella with Metro Boomin, Future, and John Legend. That same year, he danced at the BET Awards with Ice Spice, appeared in NFL commercials, and was featured in music videos for Ayra Starr. 

“I knew something would work,” Haile said. “If you have a passion and work at it long enough, something will happen. There’s no timeframe, but if you stay true to yourself and put in the effort, opportunities will come.” 

But the biggest moment of his career came in early 2024 when he received an unexpected opportunity—auditioning for the Super Bowl halftime show.  After making it through multiple rounds of auditions, he received the call: he had been selected to dance for Kendrick Lamar at the 2025 Super Bowl. 

Haile began rehearsing for eight hours a day, six days a week over the span of one month leading up to the Super Bowl on Feb. 9. Haile described the experience as both mentally and physically demanding but also the most rewarding job he had ever done. 

“You knew this performance meant something bigger,” he said. “It was an all-Black cast, and we felt unified in creating something powerful. Kendrick’s artistry has meaning beyond the music and being part of that was an honor.” 

Even as Haile continues to climb in his dance career, he remains deeply connected to his Grossmont College experience. He still meets with Adao when he comes back to San Diego, he stays in touch with this Grossmont College classmates and hopes to return to the campus to speak with current dance students. 

“Grossmont College changed my life,” he said. “It gave me my first real dance experience, and I want students to know that if you’re passionate about something, you can make it happen.” 

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Makini Cambridge-Ragan is more than just a student at Grossmont College—she is a mentor, advocate, and leader. As a computer science major, financial aid student worker, and active member of Umoja, Cambridge-Ragan is deeply engaged at Grossmont College to help herself and her fellow students thrive. 

Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, Cambridge-Ragan’s journey to Grossmont College was shaped by her husband’s military service, which brought them to San Diego. Once on campus, she quickly found her place within Umoja, a program dedicated to providing academic, financial, and communal support to students within the Black/African American community and beyond.   
 
“I love being a part of Umoja,” she says. “Not only is it a safe space for African American students, but it also includes international students, including other students from the Caribbean.”  

Cambridge-Ragan is also a dedicated student worker in the Financial Aid office, where she plays a crucial role in spreading awareness about financial aid and scholarships. She has taken it upon herself to ensure that students, especially those in Umoja, are aware of the financial resources available to them.  
 
“A lot of students don’t even realize they qualify for aid,” Cambridge-Ragan said. “One Umoja student thought she wouldn’t get anything, and after I encouraged them to apply, she received $3,000. That moment sparked a chain reaction where more students started applying for FAFSA.” 

Her commitment to spreading awareness of financial aid and scholarships goes beyond her student worker jobin the financial aid office. Cambridge-Ragan actively helps her classmates and her fellow Umoja students with the process and has even helped her fellow students write her scholarship essays.  

“I had one student tell me she didn’t know what to write for a scholarship application,” Cambridge-Ragan said. “So, I recorded her telling her story, played it back, and told her, ‘Just write that down.’ Sometimes, students just need that little push.” 

Beyond helping her fellow students access financial aid and scholarships, Cambridge-Ragan is a high-achieving student with a 3.84 GPA and the goal of transferring to UC San Diego.  

Her hard work and dedication have not gone unnoticed. Cambridge-Ragan has received multiple scholarships, including the Umoja scholarship and the prestigious Griffin Award of Excellence from the Foundation for Grossmont and Cuyamaca Colleges. The Griffin Award of Excellence comes with a $1,000 scholarship and is awarded to top Grossmont College students.  
 
Cambridge-Ragan also won a scholarship from the Umoja International Student Fellowship Program, which will help her study abroad in Egypt this summer. The scholarship is awarded to help expose Umoja students to the African diaspora and help them become aware of their place in that experience.  
 
“It was a great honor,” she said. “I don’t like to leave things to chance,” she says. “If I see an opportunity, I want to make sure not just I, but others, take advantage of it too.” 

Learn more about how to support students, such as Cambridge-Ragan and Grossmont College’s Umoja program.

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At Grossmont College, the Math Jam program is transforming lives—just ask Nick Sveine, a dedicated math tutor who started Grossmont College after 10 years away from academic life. After serving seven years in the Navy, Sveine was both excited and apprehensive about returning to school. 

“I was really skeptical about coming back,” Sveine said. “I was kind of afraid, but I knew that I loved math, it was something I always loved and that never left.” 

Sveine knew he needed support, and that’s when he learned about the Math Jam and seized the opportunity to build his confidence before tackling college algebra. The Math Jam program at Grossmont College is a one-week math program before the start of the fall semester. It allows students to meet their instructors and other students, learn about resources on campus, and review necessary skills to prepare them for college-level algebra.  

“It was really helpful for me to get that boost of confidence,” Sveine said. “Then I started the semester in college algebra, and I did really well. I succeeded. I did much better than I thought I was going to do.  

But Math Jam wasn’t just about academics. It introduced Sveine to a supportive community like Professor Susan Working, who taught the fall 2023 Math Jam, and inspired his path toward teaching. Being a tutor has created a dream to return to Grossmont College as a professor and inspire students and support them the same way he was.  

“Not only did Math Jam prepare me by introducing me to my professors, getting comfortable with them, learning that they were here for us,” Sveine said. “It got me in the door with tutoring. I saw that I could get involved with tutoring and I wanted to get involved.” 

His experience with Math Jam sparked his commitment to tutoring and his dream of becoming a math professor at Grossmont College, a place he now feels deeply connected to. Sveine’s academic journey has since expanded beyond math. As a tutor in the Writing Center, he’s been able to make an impact across disciplines and broaden his skills. He attributes much of his success to professors like Working and Daniela Sow.  

“I enjoy being taught by people who I feel like they care about me,” Sveine said. “They directly care about my learning. I take inspiration from them because I want to be the kind of teacher they are.”  

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When Diego Montalvan started a project in his Grossmont College sculpture class, he had no idea it would lead to him dawning it as full cosplay during San Diego Comic-Con and that it would lead to a feature and recognition from Marvel Entertainment.  

Montalvan is a Grossmont College art student who has always had a passion for art, creating, acting, and design.  When he isn’t creating, sculpting, or painting, he is heavily involved on campus through the First Year Experience program and the Spanish club. 

In Kaya Rainbolt’s sculpture class, students were asked to create cardboard costumes imagining themselves as heroes. Montalvan, a lover of comics and comic book characters, decided to take inspiration from Spider-Man and his rogue gallery.  

“I had no idea what to do,” Montalvan said. “I was looking at my classmates’ work, and it all looked so good. Then I saw one of my Doc Ock figures on my shelf, and I thought, ‘Wait, this could be cool—what if I made this?’ I just started playing with the idea, drawing up designs on paper, and the next thing I knew, I had a whole concept for a Doc Ock cosplay.” 

Montalvan experimented with different materials, using cardboard, pool floaties and his imagination to bring the Spider-Man villain to life – including his four extra limbs. The initial project for his sculpture class was phase one as he worked to build out the project into full cosplay, a performance art where people dress up as characters from their favorite movies, video games and TV shows. 

“I didn’t have the exact idea of what I was going to do, but I didn’t want to copy anything either,” Montalvan said. “I didn’t look up any tutorials or anything like that. I just wanted to make it from my own imagination. I had a general idea of the structure, but as I started building, little by little, new ideas came to me. It wasn’t always perfect, but that was part of the fun—experimenting and seeing what worked.” 

Encouraged by his friends and family, Montalvan was ready to show his creation to the world and debuted his cosplay at this past summer’s San Diego Comic-Con. From the moment he stepped off the trolley, the response was overwhelming with people praising his Doc Ock cosplay, complete with expanding robot arms and brown trench coat.  

Out of the many attendees vying for photos of Montalvan was Marvel Entertainment. The comics company asked to take photos and videos to share on their official social media accounts and website. On Marvel’s Instagram, Montalvan’s post has almost one million likes and sits next to posts featuring Hugh Jackman and Robert Downey, Jr.  

“I feel really happy and grateful that people liked my artwork,” Montalvan said. “To think that something I created from scratch, just for fun, got that kind of attention—it’s amazing. It motivates me to create more. I usually like to make things at home just for myself and never really show them to people. But after this, I realized maybe I should share more of what I do. You never know who might appreciate it. That’s been one of the best things to come out of this whole experience.” 

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After the worst of the COVID pandemic, in 2022, a gnawing anxiety tormented Yousif Gaboola as he walked the halls of Valhalla High School in El Cajon. Painfully shy, he said he felt as though “everybody was looking at me all at once.”

It was a problem to solve, to be sure. Gaboola, who was fascinated by psychology, read about a technique called “exposure therapy.” Little by little, he purposefully placed himself in situations where he had to talk to people, meet new faces, and talk about himself. The idea was to face his fears, in small doses, again and again, until those fears receded in the rearview mirror. Before long, Gaboola found himself running for Homecoming King – circulating among his classmates as never before. Another student got the title, but Gaboola won just the same.

The anecdote speaks volumes about Gaboola, a 2024 Grossmont College graduate who will study mathematics at UC San Diego this fall. It points to his persistence, his analytical mind, his ability to recognize problems and seek solutions … and of course, to his courage.

“I wanted to test myself,” Gaboola said of the episode back in high school. “I wanted to push myself just a little bit more, so I could crush this fear once and for all.”

Gaboola has faced his share of challenges over his 19 years. Born in Iraq, he lived with his parents and younger brother in Telskuf, a small village north of Mosul, until he turned four. That’s when his parents decided to leave the country for Turkey before joining extended family in El Cajon in 2009. The growing family welcomed another brother, and the family settled in for about ten years. Then a move to New Mexico upended high school life for Gaboola, although about a year later the family returned to El Cajon.

Nearing the end of high school, Gaboola said a lot of his friends discouraged him from attending community college right after graduation. Better to go directly to a four-year institution, they said. But Gaboola didn’t buy it. Besides, he didn’t have the money to go directly to a university, and his high school grades were not the greatest.

At about the time he enrolled at Grossmont College in the fall of 2022, Gaboola intended to pursue a degree in computer science because he thought doing so would secure a lucrative career. But he also had a natural affinity for studying mathematics, and he loved working on hard problems. “I wanted to do math,” he said of his decision that fall to major in math. “I just wanted to commit to it because I was worried that if I continued with computer science, I would be kind of unhappy because I was just doing it for the money.” So, he decided to pursue something he truly loved.Over the next year and a half, he immersed himself in calculus, linear algebra, differential equations and discrete mathematics. He relished academic conversations he had with fellow classmates, and in his spare time he explored The Millennium Prize Problems https://www.claymath.org/millennium-problems/, an international program based at The Clay Mathematics Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts that challenges mathematicians the world over to tackle the most confounding mathematical problems known to humanity.

As he heads to UCSD, Gaboola says he wants to pursue a career as a mathematics professor, immersing himself in teaching and research – and maybe eventually establishing an academic career at Oxford University in England. He says he’s not sure where a career in mathematics will take him, but he’ll always be drawn to working on hard problems – expanding his mind and making a lasting intellectual impact in his field.

Gaboola’s love of teaching began at Grossmont, where his math professor, Corey Manchester, encouraged him to tutor classmates through the college’s Math and Science Center.

Gaboola said he gets a ton of satisfaction seeing students who he’s tutored light up when they understand a complicated math concept or problem. “The look on their faces when they finally understand what that 30-minute lecture was that their professor gave them … is just amazing,” he said. “I love it.”

As he’s helped students at Grossmont, he’s reminded of the many people on campus who helped him chart his own path toward graduation and a college career at UCSD – from his interactions early on with Grossmont’s “First Year Experience” https://www.grossmont.edu/student-support/fye/ support program for new students, to his personal relationships with faculty and staff.

“The community here wants you to succeed,” he said of Grossmont College’s culture of student support. “Professors go out of their way to do office hours with you. I always had the feeling that the community college wanted you to do well, and it gave you the resources to do that. That was an eye opener for me, and it made me feel like I was in the right place.”

As he heads to UCSD in just a few weeks, Gaboola says he’s grateful for the journey he’s taken at Grossmont College, which helped lay the foundation for a boy from a small village in Iraq to become a future mathematics professor.

The post MESA Student Yousif Gaboola’s Inspiring Journey from Iraq to UC San Diego appeared first on Grossmont-Cuyamaca News Center.

Neela Jolene Moody, 18, is a young college student in a hurry. An early graduate from high school, Moody began her studies at Grossmont College in the fall of 2022 and works as an accomplished actress while pursuing a college degree in business management.

“I plan to continue my work as an actress and merge the business skills I learn in college with my love for entertainment,” she said. “My short-term career goal is to get my business degree while continuing to work as an actress. My long-term goal is to become a successful businesswoman in the entertainment business.”

Moody, a resident of San Diego, uses her stage name, “Neela Jolene,” for her work as an actress and is best known for roles on The Goldbergs, the Juniors and Dhar Mann TV series, and for a lead role on the 2024 Lifetime TV movie, My Acting Coach Nightmare. She’s also worked in many short films, commercials, and modeling projects. She began performing at five years old in musical theater.

At Grossmont, Moody is one of two students on the Second Team of the 2024 Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) All-California Academic Honor Roll.

Moody said she wants to continue working as an actress, merging her passion for performing with the business of making movies. “Working in a production company that produces films that are both meaningful and entertaining is my ultimate plan,” she said.

At Grossmont, Moody takes all her classes online. She said the college’s flexibility has allowed her to pursue a busy career as an actress. “I can easily contact the professors, counselors, and administrators when I need them,” she said. “Being able to work acting jobs and at the same time pursue my degree has been a godsend for me.” After this spring, she has two semesters to go before she plans to transfer to San Diego State University.

As a working actress and online student, Moody said her busy schedule hasn’t allowed her to socialize with many people on campus. Nevertheless, she’s enjoyed her college classes and building the knowledge that a college education offers, and she said she feels a sense of accomplishment after she completes each course. “I will miss that the most,” she said.

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Nineteen-year-old Christopher Kazanchi has a clear vision for his future, and he’s not afraid to work hard for it. In the fall of 2023, Kazanchi completed eight courses in one semester at Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges.

“It was 23 units, and I’ll tell you it was not easy,” the political science major at Grossmont College said recently. “But I did it with a lot of motivation, just to prove to myself that I can handle the rigor at a school like UCLA or even a school like Cornell.”

By mid-May, Kazanchi had already been accepted to UCSD, UCLA, UC Irvine, and UC Santa Barbara, and of those universities he had his sights set on UCLA. But he’s also still waiting to hear from Cornell, Columbia, and New York University (NYU). By the time he graduates from Grossmont College, he will have completed 79 units, exceeding the 60-unit requirement to transfer.

The thoughtful and articulate young man says he wants to go to law school to become an attorney, most likely in corporate law and perhaps specializing in intellectual property, patent law, or mergers and acquisitions. “I haven’t narrowed it down yet,” he said.

Kazanchi, who has maintained a 4.0 grade point average at Grossmont, is one of 122 students statewide who won a place on the 2024 Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) All-California Academic Honor Roll.

He admits that a few years ago he didn’t have a lot of direction. Kazanchi, who was raised in East County, began his college journey at San Diego Mesa College but after a while it didn’t seem like the right fit. He wanted to go to school closer to his church in El Cajon, where he volunteers, and it soon became clear that Grossmont was a better option. It took a while to find some academic focus, however. He started off as a psychology major, then he switched to business, then became undeclared. Then he took some classes in political science, and everything clicked. “I found a passion for legal studies … and political science is one of the biggest pipelines into law school,” he said.

At Grossmont, Kazanchi has been an active member of the forensics program. He credits the program for propelling his college career. “I’ve learned so much from it and I’ve developed a passion,” he said. “I’m so fortunate to be at a community college where we’re able to compete in these tournaments.” Kazanchi also credited his professors at Grossmont for recognizing his own drive to excel and mentoring him.

Outside of college, Kazanchi has worked as a legislative intern for San Diego County Supervisor Joel Anderson, where he also became an assistant internship coordinator to recruit other young people who are interested in government service. After completing two 125-hour internships, he now works nearly full time for Anderson overseeing nearly $5 million in grant funding. He also works part-time at a local law firm to build experience.

The opportunity to work in regional government is one of many that Kazanchi has chosen to seize, to push beyond where he thought he could go. “I’ve wanted to prove to myself that I could continue to break barriers, continue to break my glass ceilings,” he said.

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The idea came early, as she watched “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and “NCIS” (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) on TV with her mom. Trinity Cortez-Ansley knew she wanted to become a Medical Examiner. 

She wanted to help solve crimes, and she wanted to help families in distress find peace and closure. 

Maybe a few TV shows sparked an idea, but it was Trinity, now 18, who made the rest of it happen through focus, determination, and an overriding feeling that she has no time to waste. This spring she graduated with honors from high school and earned two associate’s degrees (also with honors) from Cuyamaca and Grossmont colleges. She heads to U.C. Davis this fall, and already has her sights set on medical school and an eventual doctorate in forensics. 

Her high school, Health Sciences High & Middle College charter school in San Diego, has a special partnership with area community colleges that allows students to take college courses for college credits. Through that partnership, Trinity began taking classes at Grossmont and Cuyamaca two years ago, when she was 16. Today, she leaves Grossmont with an associate’s degree in social and behavioral sciences, and she finishes Cuyamaca College with an associate’s degree in public health science. 

Trinity said she recognized early on that her charter high school would allow her to dive into college classes early, and she wanted to take full advantage of what her school had to offer to accelerate her path toward medical school. “I knew I had this amazing opportunity to get my associate’s degree in high school,” she said. “I had this opportunity, and it pushed me.” 

On May 24, Trinity gave a speech at a gathering of the black student club at Cuyamaca College, Umoja. She spoke about purpose and self-determination, two of the seven principles celebrated during Kwanzaa, the annual celebration of African culture and values that help fortify a sense of community among African Americans. 

Trinity says a strong sense of purpose and self-determination will propel her through college, on to medical school, and to a doctorate. 

“In the beginning, everybody told me I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t get my associate’s degree in high school,” she said of people’s initial reaction. As she began her journey, she said her motivation was not to prove those people wrong, but to discover her own potential. “I found my purpose in education. It wasn’t just about coming to class. I actually enjoyed learning the material, and I looked forward to sharing my knowledge.” 

Once she was immersed in an academic life, working her way toward a high school degree while also taking college courses, Trinity said a strong sense of self-determination was vital to keep moving forward. “I always knew I was very different from everyone else,” she said. “My mom likes to say I march to the beat of my own drum. For me it was about finding my courage to walk in that path.” 

Her path hasn’t been easy. Trinity says she lives with a handful of learning challenges that she’s worked hard to overcome: dyscalculia, a learning disorder that disrupts a person’s ability to understand numbers and math-related concepts, and a separate memory processing disorder that makes memorization difficult and standardized exams a real challenge. 

She has also endured personal loss, the first one two years ago when her grandmother lost a battle to lung cancer, and the second just a few months later when her 47-year-old father died from a heart attack. 

Processing those losses at 16 was overwhelming, and Trinity said she initially withdrew from people who could help her. “Sitting alone with grief was one of the hardest things,” she said. Soon, however, she said she found comfort by reaching out to “my own village” – her mother and others closest to her, as well as counselors at Elizabeth Hospice in San Diego. 

Two years later, with continued guidance from her mother and key mentors at both college campuses, she now finds herself on the cusp of a challenging and rewarding college career, and a prestigious career in medicine. 

“They told me, “You can’t fail, because that’s not who you are,” Trinity said of the steady drumbeat of support she’s received from those supporting her. “That consistency in motivation kept me moving.” 

Trinity credits faculty and staff at both colleges, particularly in chemistry, anatomy, and physiology, for supporting her academic journey so far. She is friends with Grossmont College President Denise Whisenhunt, who refers to the 18-year-old as her “role model.” 

“I see in her the future,” said President Whisenhunt. “She has an innate commitment to academic excellence and a drive like no other. It has been an honor to watch Trinity grow as a student and community leader. Trinity represents our imperative to give our local high school students access to life-changing college education that will propel them to incredible academic journeys.” 

She also singles out her chemistry professor at Grossmont College, Peter Friedman, as another individual who took a personal interest in her academic development. She remembers one office hours visit when he showed her the physics behind a prism, expanding her knowledge beyond chemistry into the wonder of light and its spectrum of colors. 

Trinity’s anatomy professor at Cuyamaca, Fabienne Bouton, took a special interest in Trinity’s progress. Toward the end of the spring term, Trinity said Bouton gave her a small figurine to keep her encouraged as she encounters future challenges. It’s a simple miniature bowling pin which, when placed on a flat surface, rocks back and forth but never falls over. “I’ll be taking this with me to college,” Trinity said.  

Heading into the summer, Trinity says she’s taking some time off to prepare for the rigors of university life; it’s the first time in years she won’t be attending summer school. She says she’ll enjoy driving her Nissan Ultima and spending time gaming on the computer, a personal hobby. 

While she’s off to U.C. Davis, Trinity says she’ll always remember that she began her college career at Grossmont and Cuyamaca community colleges – institutions that launched her future. “I started at community colleges,” she said. “They were the beginning of higher education for me.” 

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The recent student elections at Cuyamaca College have concluded with an exciting outcome, as Brycen Brown has been elected as the Associated Student Government (ASG) President, and Manuel Juarez Lopez was elected as the Student Trustee. The election saw enthusiastic participation from the student body, reflecting the vibrant and engaged community at Cuyamaca College. Below is a brief introduction to our new ASG President, and Student Trustee, highlighting their backgrounds, aspirations, and goals for their tenure.

Meet Brycen Brown: ASG President

Brycen Brown graduated from Ramona High School in 2022, and chose to attend Cuyamaca College on the recommendation of friends who had previously studied there. Additionally, the proximity of the college allowed him to continue his running career. Brycen is currently majoring in illustration and minoring in creative writing. Academically, he aims to fulfill all the requirements necessary to transfer to Cal State Fullerton’s art program.

During his time as a student leader at Cuyamaca, Brycen intends to focus on fostering a strong campus community. He envisions Cuyamaca as a “third place” for students—a space where they can relax and have fun outside of class, work, or home. Brycen believes that with his influence, he can help create this environment for students seeking such a space.

Brycen’s ultimate life goal is to write and illustrate graphic novels that convey inspiring stories and healthy messages. He hopes to share these stories with the world, making a positive impact through his art. What makes Cuyamaca College particularly special to Brycen is the ease with which one can form friendships and connections. The numerous opportunities to get involved on campus make it easy for students to step out of their comfort zones and engage with a broader community.

Meet Manuel Juarez Lopez: Student Trustee

Manuel’s passion for running initially brought him to Cuyamaca, where he has competed alongside his peers on both the Men’s Cross Country and Track & Field teams. In addition to involvement in athletic programs, Manuel also discovered “a true community” at Cuyamaca, and quickly became involved in efforts to support fellow students, including as a peer mentor for the Together We Rise Center, and as the 2023-2024 President of Associated Student Government at Cuyamaca College (ASGCC).

A business major, Manuel plans to graduate with an associate degree in Spring 2025 and go on to complete his undergraduate degree at San Diego State. Manuel is excited to continue his support and advocacy for students in the roll of ASGCC Student Trustee in the 2024-2025 academic year.

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Zachary Mass said he’s enjoyed attending Grossmont College, with supportive professors and counselors, involvement in the Radio Club, and a 3.5 grade point average. He was selected as Grossmont College’s student speaker for the 2024 commencement.

Mass notes that his academic journey before he came to Grossmont College “hasn’t always been sunshine and rainbows.” His academic challenges started in third grade and reached a boiling point when he was in eighth grade and was expelled from his middle school. He spent two years in a special education school before he was able to return to a mainstream high school.

Mass said he had to learn to control his emotions and not become enraged when he suffered a rejection or setback.

“I learned that there’s always going to be more to experience,” Mass said. “Even if I get a bad test grade or have a falling-out with friends, there’s always going to be more people to meet and more things to do. That’s not the end of the world.”

Or to put it simply, “I just learned how to chill out a little bit,” he said.

Mass, who grew up in the Bay Area town of San Ramon, said he wanted to come to San Diego to be with friends who attend San Diego State University. Grossmont College popped up on his website search, and he liked the idea of attending a community college known as “Harvard on the hill.”

Mass, a communication major, praised his instructors.

“That’s been my favorite thing at this school,” he said. “All the professors have been really supportive. I email them and they get back to me soon.”

Mass has been active in the Radio Club, and has been announcing at Grossmont College sports events. He will be transferring to San Diego State University to earn a bachelor’s degree in communication, and hopes to have a career in sports broadcasting.

“People ask me what sport I’d like to broadcast. It’s whatever one will hire me,” he said.

He advised anyone who is considering attending Grossmont College to get involved in some of the many activities the college offers.

“Just be as social as you can,” he said. “If you’re cooperative and be yourself, it will work out fine.”

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