Linda Fair

Student

“If you’re self-motivated, you can get a lot out of SMC without having to spend a fortune.”

“There are a lot of people in the world who need to work on self-esteem,” says Linda Fair. “We live in a society where it’s so hard to stand out. That’s what gangs are all about; finding some kind of recognition. And the media,” she continues, “present us with all these ridiculous images that are impossible to live up to. What this world needs to to work on is better acceptance of all kinds of people.”

Linda had been teaching first and second graders when she discovered “teaching wasn’t what I thought it would be all about.” So she took a battery of career placement tests. “And the recommendation was a career in geography. I thought, ‘Wow!’ I never even thought of that,” she says. “So I took a couple of classes from Dr. Bruce Young that I thoroughly enjoyed,” and Professor Young quickly recognized Linda’s talent. “He spurred me on to apply to UCLA where they’ve got the best geography department in the country,” she says. And the result is she’s been accepted to study for her masters degree this fall.

“I was a triple major in college initially,” says Linda. “And geography is a discipline that let’s me fit all of my interests together. I’m still exploring which directions to go in. But I must says SMC has turned my life around. I’ve never felt an outsider, being an older student,” she continues. “And I keep telling my own kids that I hope they too will come here some day.”

Kids, and not just her own, are an important force of nature to Linda. As a volunteer she helps run the Santa Monica Youth Soccer organization. “We’ve got over a thousand youngsters playing soccer in our programs,” she says. “And that’s a thousand who are not out there on the streets.”

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