If you are anything like how I was my first semester at CCBC; you came to class and left campus right after you finished your classes. Never bothered to look at the bulletin boards around campus or get involved in any sort of way. But what you must realize is that campus doesn’t have to be that way. Knowing what CCBC can offer you as a student can make your college experience soooo much better!
Let’s start off with the biggest underdogs in my perspective. I’m talking about you, Success Navigators. If you’ve taken/are taken ACDV 101, this may ring a faint bell. In all honesty, it wasn’t until this past August where I helped out as an ambassador for an International Student Orientation that I fully understood what Success Navigators do. During this very educational and welcoming orientation, I learned a lot of good information. The speaker from the success Navigators gave the audience a simple yet very good scenario of when you should go see them. It went along the lines of if your power turns off we can give you x amount of money to help you and you DO NOT have to pay back. The only thing you had to do was show proof of such a thing happening at home. When I heard this I was amazed by the helping hand CCBC was willing to give their students. BUT THEY DON’T DO JUST THAT. I decided to search them on the CCBCMD website and here are just several other amazing things they do for YOU as a student; Emergency Housing Information, Food Insecurity, State and Federal Benefits, Legal Resources, Clinical Counseling, Utility Assistance, and Transportation.
Secondly, I believe you guys could be saving money using the fitness center @ your local CCBC campus. Who’s got time to pay for a gym membership? (Obviously unhealthy me:) I mean if you’re anything like me, you’d be giving your gym free $$ when you don’t even use it! So why not enjoy the free fitness center at your campus!!! My main campus is Essex, but I’ve yet to use their fitness center. Now, Dundalk’s fitness center I’ve visited twice. It was nice and air-conditioned unlike the basketball court in the gym! ALSO, the 3 main campuses have pools you are allowed to use at certain times/days. Many gyms don’t even offer access to an indoor pool and CCBC is out here giving it to you for freeeeee! I plan on using it this fall semester because why not?? You know, exercise can help blow some steam off from stress. So whenever you really feel stressed about a class or an exam go burn off some calories with this handy dandy resource and you’ll feel healthy (which is always a plus)!
My last resource I’ll share with you guys is none other than the amazing Student Life! For this blog, I’ll only be talking about what the FYE mentors and the food pantry do (trust me, there’s way more to Student Life but that’s for a later blog). You may be wondering why this ambassador wants to focus on FYE mentors. Well let’s put it this way, they are ongoing resources for new incoming students and that is AWESOME. They make the transition to college for these new students as helpful as it can be. They take the time to visit the ACDV 101 classes, attend orientations, and give college/ life advice. Consider them your first made ally here at CCBC if you ever feel lost or confused. Now, the food pantry is my personal favorite resource because you can just swing by student life and get yourself a quick snack for free!!! All they’ll ask for is your student ID and you are allowed to take up to 5 items any weekday during the semester. May that be a granola bar or a box of noodles and a can of sauce for tonight’s dinner. 5 items+ your student ID= happy belly!
CCBC offers way more resources than I could possibly describe. These are my top 3 resources that I feel like any student could benefit from. I hope reading it from a fellow students perspective makes you store this information somewhere in your brain so whenever you need it you can use it.
