Summer — 2010

Navid Notghi

Engineering

“I really want to say a big ‘thank you’ to my supervisor at SMC’s Bundy LRC Lab, Beverly Walker. She was always there to help me and give me good advice.”

Navid Notghi, of Iran, was in his first semester at SMC and feeling very pleased. “What I really like about this college is that we have an actual building for each department here. There’s a Science Building, an English Building, and a Math Building. So they are all dedicated spaces,” he says. “Also we have really nice teachers, like Julie Easton, who I took ESL from. When I first came to the US, I couldn’t speak a word of English. But Julie spent her time with everyone, making sure that we all understood. She gave me everything in your language. And now I have it!”

Navid works as a tutor in the Bundy LRC Lab—one of SMC’s many computer labs for students—and says it’s an experience that he believes will help him in his future. “I want to go into Engineering. I think that by designing and thinking about technology in general, you can solve a lot of problems and make life better for a lot of people. But I also like the mechanical, electrical, and structural parts of engineering,” says Navid in his excellent English. “I guess you could say that I just like figuring things out.”

Because of his daytime job in the computer lab, Navid says that SMC’s night classes are one of his most valued resources. “I’m a night person anyway, so it’s very easy for me to learn at night. And I like, very much, the variety of classes that we have here during the ‘dark hours.’ ” Navid says, “Counseling is very, very important for all international students because—usually—they have to learn not only a new language, but also a new system. And fortunately, we have many very good counselors here at SMC. I think they will all help me get to UC Berkeley.”

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