Viewpoint by Kirsten Mahon
Two great things about TCC are the variety of courses it offers and the staff who work to help students. But there isn’t enough information readily available, especially to new students. It’s not that orientation isn’t enough or that the faculty has failed to make the information available — it’s just that there is so much to find out.
TCC is one of the largest community colleges in the nation. With a student population of about 50,000 students attending five campuses spread in and around the wild metropolis of Fort Worth, the institution has a great deal to handle.
A million-dollar-a-day budget (approximately $365 million) has paid for the purchase of TR Campus, TCC’s youngest campus where students can take American Sign Language courses. It’s given a new firing range for police academy trainees on NW Campus this semester and a small part of the Alliance Airport so Tarrant County students can learn to fly planes. Both the flight school and the firing range are a phenomenon most uncommon to the average community college. TCC is currently expanding its petroleum technology courses on South Campus and continues to offer courses abroad for science and foreign language students.
With so much choice, many students worry about finding the right fit. They don’t want to waste financial aid on any classes they don’t need or might lose the motivation to attend.
Students should use immediate resources to find that fit. For instance, ratemyprofessor.com is a great tool for matching one’s abilities to the right instructor.
If students start slipping in school, tutoring labs abound. If students need help with a subject that tutoring labs don’t concentrate on, like history or sociology, and their teachers not around, seek out someone who’s passionate about it. There could be an instructor in a different classroom, (check when there’s no class in there!) or a student in a club who is just waiting to help someone. The great thing about having 50,000 students is that experts are hiding everywhere.
Counselors and instructors are there to help, but it’s surprising how easy it is to learn from other students one would never think about speaking to. A smile goes a long way — some of the worst moments are solved with a little friendliness and a little searching.
