Spring — 2006

Londin Gibson

Music/Japanese

“With all the development and improvements at the College, it’s nice to know that there’s still some money left for education.”

He was learning to navigate—in every sense—through a new life on the SMC campuses and their labyrinth of gardens, hallways, labs, and classrooms. But Londin Gibson was reporting few difficulties. “They even gave me a map of the whole College! But whenever I’ve had questions, the people in the front office on Pico have been extremely helpful.” Londin is adjusting to some new priorities at SMC, and likes the progress that he sees in himself. “Not having an education got me nowhere; I was just slacking off,” he admits. “But now I really want to listen to my teachers instead of playing computer games.” And one teacher Londin listens to very attentively is the one who speaks to him in Japanese.

“I have Ms. Fujiwara for that class, and it’s a tough one,” says Londin. “But I like the complexities of the language, and I think the Japanese culture is fascinating. If you stood American culture up in front of one of those funhouse mirrors, you’d get a pretty good picture of what that culture is like,” he says with a laugh. “You won’t find a single Bill Gates there at the top: It’s more like a collective. I don’t understand all of it, for sure. But it’s something I plan to study further.”

Londin is also taking on the guitar, which—he admits—he’s no virtuoso at… yet. “And next semester I’ll be taking a Figure Drawing class, because I have a lot to learn about all the Arts.” But whatever he tackles next at SMC, he has some very specific advice for himself and for others. “Definitely use the tutors here in the labs. Each building has a lab that’s just filled with computers and people that are just there to help you. And it’s free! These are fast and efficient people, and whenever you’ve got problems, they’ll take care of them.”

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