Spring — 2012

Courtney Thomas

Communication/Black Collegians

“The Black Collegians program is a huge family of people with classes designed just for us. We have tutors for everything you might need help with, and lots of people you can really just connect with.”

Courtney Thomas is not one to ever let an opportunity pass her by. And she reports that the SMC resources made available to her have been phenomenally positive. “I would never go to a two-year school other than SMC. I’ve worked at the Bookstore here, and now at the Black Collegians program, and those are both great experiences. High school was just a really negative time for me,” says Courtney. “I didn’t like the students or the teachers or the classes. But that’s all changed for the better here at this College. And it’s inspiring to get involved with a lot of bright, talented people here—and the clubs, too.”

Courtney said, “I’m going to be joining the Adelante program here, because diversity is always a good thing. I think it’ll help me to meet Latino people from a different background than mine, and to learn why they’re in college and what they expect from education and life in general. Plus, I’ve found that the Latino people I’ve met are always very happy to help you to learn Spanish; a necessity in Los Angeles.” Courtney’s arrival at SMC—complete with a bad accident that fractured her pelvis (“which doesn’t bother me except during inclement weather”)—was a little tumultuous. “I really didn’t know anything when I first came here,” she says. “But then I met a great counselor through the Black Collegians. Her name was Janet Robinson, and she was amazing. She asked me what I liked doing, and then framed my whole approach to college around that. At one point,” Courtney continues, “I had overburdened myself with two really heavy science classes, and Janet took that story and passed it on to other students, so they wouldn’t make the same mistake. She’s a true friend to us all.”

A gifted speaker, Courtney plans on a career in public relations. “I’d love to become an advocate for education—possibly even at SMC. I didn’t get a lot of encouragement in school before I came here,” she says. “So helping young people find their way to the right education will, I think, be something that I could really value in my life.”

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