concept of democracy the most were style and prolific political sociologist of the past century Martin Lipset he worked on a important issues regarding and specifically of the class structure the social mobility the party system and voters behavior and public confidence in the institutions and the social origins of socialism fascism extremism and how and why the protest takes place in the society so there is a long list of topics on which Lipset has feared his perspectives his point of views it through his writings because he was a deep believer in the importance of comparative research and he produced a variety of work by comparing various countries and specifically Canada and US and explaining that why a US never had a major socialist party or movement although a very interesting question for the students of political sociology and he considered himself a student of democracy and it is revealing that he chooses his topic in specifically in during his time when he was the candidate of the American sociological association and then he actually focused on writing on the various dimensions of democracy and the debate on democracy so Lipset's contributions to the study of democracy that that is actually remarkable and everyone actually praise him for his contributions and specifically his title his article some social requisites of democracy he is like your article which may be considered that that was the most started article or just keep an eye out for people who are going to come back as clear or democracy key various two dimensions and we explore Karna shuru kia democracy key debate for revive kia yes are a cassara credit to have a lip set ko jata hain ke unho ne isko boh zyada important topic ke tor par jo hain wo dobarah se iski importance ko jagar jo hain wo kia hain past or per lip set in this dimension per focus kia that was the social conditions of a democratic political order tunge in se pehle democracy ko as form of government democracy ke features uski khas usyad par baat ki jati thi lekin lipset ne jis dimension ko mainly highlight kia wo dimension kia thi that the social conditions of a democratic political order ke jab tak moisture ki under e khas tarha ka environment nahi hoga to apik democratic political order established nahi kar sakte aur in ke boh zyada articles aur unki kitabu ki under khas tor par iske baare main iski various jo dimensions thi unke upar likha bhiya aur khas tor par jo sustaining democracy thi that how democracy can sustained in a society agar waha ke logon ke under economic development nahi hoga yani agar maoshi taraki nahi hoga ki to hi kise mumkin hai kise mulkon ke under democratic system jo hain wo sustain kar jai iska matla ba lip set kaya perspective tha ki economic development and democracy has a deep link agar chis par boh sak criticism hoa boh sari halko ne is par debate bhi ki ke kya jo gareeb log hain wo democratic nahi hoga sakte hiya gareeb mulk intazaar karein ke jab tak unke haa maoshi taraki nahi hoga to wo democratic system ko established nahi kar sakte any boh sari pehas boh sari itarazat to hain wo in par kya garee, lekin ek aisi bahes ka agas lip set reintroduce kar hain jis ka maini hi tha ki siyasi nizamo ko is baat par fokus kar na chahiye ke wo apne logon ki maoshi taraki ke liye bakaida plan kare. agar maoshi taraki mumkin hoga to ek aisa social environment kriate hoga aisi social basis janam lein ki jinn ke baat hiya democracy jo hain wo mazboot se mazboot tar hoti chali jahi ghi. agar nahi kya hoga ki jo state hai uska jo role hai wo limited hota chala jahi gha aur khas tar par jo civil society hai wo boh sari aise questions raise karegi because poor countries jo economically rich nahi hain wo mulch jo maoshi lehaas te behtar surthe haal mein nahi hain definitely unke hain wo hot sari aise masail hoti hain jinn mein stability ka question bhi aajata hain kyunke jo democracy hain uske liye sbse buneaati shah kya hain. democracy ki consolidation ke liye according to lipset legitimacy is the much needed requirement aur legitimacy kab aegi hain kyaise aasakti hain agar log sahi karee kese asulon ki pass tari karee. log authority ko accept karee aur authority ki acceptance ke liye kya chahi zaroori hain ki khbud authority ki taraf se lovo ko ke liye aisa environment kireet ho jaha wo economically, socially, politically ek stable life jo hain wo wuzar sakin. so stability and democracy ka jo relationship hain aur kis tari ke se jo legitimacy hain wo democracy ke liye ek proper democratic norms kireet kar sakti hain yeh sab ka sab lipset ka khas khususi topic bhi raha aur uske andar jo khas topic jis par unho ni jis ke saath relate kya jis area ke saath that was the role of leadership ki agar leadership ka role positive ho gha. agar leadership ki desire yeh ho ghi ki mole ke andar legitimacy ke true system ko run kya jaye aur legitimacy kese aayi ghi when the system made liver to the majority of the people on the equal basis to ish ka matlab hai equality bhi aag hai equal opportunities bhi aag hai aur logon ke liye aisa environment kireet ho gya where they can perform not only their duties but they will gain in return. ki seh raha yeh nahi hai ki log apna kaam karenge balki in return unko uske boh saare benefits bhi milenge aur jah wo benefits milenge to phir kya ho gha system ke andar ek majority aayi ghi aur yeh lipset ki philosophy hain ke jo democracy hain wuz seh fe concept nahi hai democracy is a mechanism aur mechanism ki kuch requirements hain to jab tak un requirements ko poora nahi ki aaj aayega jab tak mechanism ko poly operative nahi bata aayega to tab tak nahi to democracy kahin par aasakti hain aur nahi kahin par democratic norms kireet ho sakti hain yeh hi bhaja hai ke lipset ne apni dehreroon ki andar in a very explicit manner he defined democracy, he defined the role of democracy and the criteria's which are much needed for a sustainable and for a mature democratic system. to hum yeh kaisakte hain ke lipset seh pehle bhi bohot saare aise political philosophers the jino ne democracy ke concept ko highlight kiya uske upar debate ki democracy ki characteristics ko highlight kya lakin lipset ne jis tari ke se social environment economic environment economic facilitation role of leadership and specifically role of legitimacy ko democratic stability kaisa aise link kya hain yeh debate hum hi inse pehle is andaz peh hum hi muqtalif writers ko dekhne ke baad bhi yeh debate hum hi nahi milti aur pastor peh jise comparative analysis ke saath yani muqtalif mulkko ki case study ke saath unki examples ke saath in saare hakaik ko waze kiya gya conceptual debate ko link kiya gya yeh bohot unique contribution hai jo hame seh for seh lipset ke hain hi milta hain aur yeh hi bhaja hai ke lipset ka naam is context ke andar bohot zyada ahem consider kiya jata hai


The program of control says that our well-being, our progress, comes through exerting better and better control over matter. So more powerful machines, more precise control through nanotechnology, through precision engineering. And so our progress means that we'll be able to, or genetic engineering, to be able to impose control on a finer and finer level with more and more understanding, and thereby someday attain utopia. But in the meantime, improve life, one invention after another, improving life through controlling matter. And so then the same gets turned onto the body. How do you improve your health? It's again, through imposing control on this sometimes wayward machine, or imposing control on the other separate selves out there that are competing with you? Because in the story of separation, more for you is less for me. And all life forms are in competition with each other. But thankfully, we have technology. We have antibiotics. We have medicine that allows us to impose control on these others so that we can be safer and safer, better and better, more and more dominant, onward and upward. That's the ideology that is, in fact, failing us today. And I'll just say to relate this to current events, our response, COVID-19, out of all the health crises that have been rising in my lifetime, chronic disease, auto-immunity, allergies, autism, addiction. Out of all of these things, none of them fit the paradigm of control. None of them admit to a pathogen that we can dominate and achieve health. Finally, and so what has been done about these things? Not very much. We haven't radically altered society because childhood chronic conditions have risen from 1% to 52% in the last 40 years, or no, 60 years. We haven't, like, nobody's running around in a panic because of a very real epidemic of all of these conditions. Now, COVID-19 comes along, and finally, here's a bad guy that we can fight. Here's a problem that, after so long and feeling so helpless to stem the failure of the program of control and to admit that utopia hasn't come, despite hundreds of years of technology, like this is a crisis of faith, a crisis of identity. Now, COVID comes along, and finally, here's something that we can control. So all of society's attention turns toward this virus. And I'm not saying that there is no such thing as COVID-19 or anything like that, but I'm saying, why? Why are we so, as a species, as a civilization, pretty unified in combating this threat when we've done nothing about other threats that have actually harmed thousands of times more people? Why? And the key, the answer to that lies in the word I just used, combating. This is a threat that can be combated. And this pattern is visible not just in public health. It's visible in politics, where there's an awful lot of, or was until recently, I don't know what's happening now, but an awful lot of energy going into combating ISIS or generating new bad guys for my country to combat, new adversaries, as they're called, China or Russia. But really, what's actually harming our society? What is the illness of our society? Is it actually that terrorists are killing thousands or millions of people? Is it that Russia has come in and taken two million people and locked them in concentration camps? No, the prisons are generated within our own society. Is China sending agents to infiltrate people's homes and beat people up physically and emotionally, called domestic abuse? Is that caused? No, none of these things that are affecting a third population, a quarter of the population, a fifth of the population, I mean, one out of five women I've read are on antidepressants. Is that caused by a bad guy? No. What is causing these things? That's an uncomfortable question. That doesn't have ready answers.


The media superstars of the right wing and the left wing just got fired. Now, what does this mean as far as making space for maybe an Asian political pundit? And also, does this mean that we're just going to see some more balanced news coverage in the future? Yeah, we got to talk about it. We're talking about hundreds of thousands of internet comments across all platforms talking about this right now. Andrew Tucker Carlson just got fired from Fox News on the same day Don Lemon just got fired from CNN. So those are your big dogs on each side in terms of the most well-known political pundit on each side. Obviously, you could argue Tucker Carlson was like more at the top of his game. Don Lemon may have been in slow decline for the last like five or seven years, but this is a big deal. We got to talk about how this opens up space potentially for Asians. And is this finally the end of lopsided mainstream political media? I don't know, man. Everybody please hit that like button and check out other episodes of the hotpot boys as we talk about this are real quick. Let's just cover a lot of the reasons why people believe Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson got fired. There's no like official report. There's just obviously a long list of things that they might have done that added up to this. Right. And we may never know what goes on on the watch work behind the watch face, but there is some information out there. Let's just go through it. Andrew, apparently Don Lemon did not get along with his female co-host, especially white women. And he had like recently lost his own show a couple years ago. So he was on a mixed show now. And there was a lot of like caddy moments where he was just like beefing with people, even within his own party, sort of unnecessarily, right? Yeah. And he started to offend a lot of different people, even within the party. And basically, I feel like he just stopped being as sensitive. But I think if you're representing what he was representing, which is like the liberal left progressives, you have to be more sensitive. And he was basically being offensive, whether it's like taking away the color of certain like people of color candidates or like calling out Nikki Haley's age, saying she's over the hill. She's too old. So that was like ages in a way. And then basically, there was also a lot of like viral embarrassing clips of Don Lemon on his own show, getting clowned on and getting schooled. So I feel like that was causing the ratings to kind of go down. Yeah, there was this clip on Nexshark of him questioning the minority status of Republican presidential candidate, Rama Swami. And I think a lot of people were like, oh, yeah, I mean, like that's a brown Indian guy, but you're sort of saying that he's not a POC. And obviously, I do think that that is like in a weird way, a debate, but it's not a debate you can have on CNN. Yeah. And I think Don Lemon overall was losing some likeability. And I feel like at this point, he was essentially becoming close to replaceable. Yeah. And some people were saying also CNN's new leadership wants to bring in more balanced perspectives. A lot of people on the left right now are at least left-leaning media institutions. Even SNL was trying to become more balanced, Andrew. Do you think there is a move from liberal media institutions to be like, all right, guys, we got to be more moderate, maybe? Yeah, I think that's how it feels. And you know, I just feel like people are leaning back into it a little bit, just seeing as like, maybe going too far left didn't work or it started to hurt their pockets. You know, it could be money motivated or some ideologic, you know, reasons to because just feeling like the world just can't be on these two super far spectrums all the time. Yeah. I mean, I think that over the past five, seven years, maybe Don Lemon stock kind of dropped even on the left, because he was like getting drunk with Andy Cohen during the New Year's Eve thing. For me, I personally thought it was a little unprofessional. I'm just throwing it out there. But yeah, moving on to the Tucker Carlson situation, this one in a way, Andrew, is more explosive, right? Because he was bringing in most of the ratings to Fox News as far as a mainstream media right wing thing goes. And I believe they lost like a billion dollars off their market cap the day they announced he was firing because it shows some internal turmoil within that. But some people said it was because he made Rupert Murdoch mad for professional and personal reasons. So the professional reasons is he's causing some lawsuits, right? And then also on the personal side, apparently somebody said that Rupert Murdoch's former fiance was like too big of a fan. I don't know, man. Like I said, I don't follow either of these things. I'm just reading what I'm reading. What a reason for Tucker Carlson, a guy who wears a bow tie to get fired for. But there was also things like the whole with the Dominion voting system lawsuit, right, where Fox News was pushing that it was voter fraud for a really long time, right? But then as it turned out, they lost that lawsuit. You know, now they have to pay like almost $800 million. The craziest thing is Rupert Murdoch is a huge owner of BlackRock. BlackRock is invested in both Dominion and Fox News. So that's like your own baby companies suing each other. That's like your own children suing each other as like an investor. Yeah, I think at some point, Tucker Carlson was basically kind of going rogue and doing his own thing. And he wasn't as much of a team player for Fox News because there was also text messages that leaked that said that he was calling out saying, yo, Fox is deceiving the people. Why are we saying this? Like we shouldn't be saying this. So he was kind of going more for the audience and the people versus playing. No, he was playing the you guys are more capitalist than true like evangelical Protestant Christians like I'm representing.  Interesting. You know, people selling missiles and bullets and vests and things like that. One theory I saw that was interesting is someone said that they think Tucker Carlson might run for president for the Republicans because now he gets to run on the basis like, well, you know, Fox didn't let me speak the truth. So now I get to speak to the truth to you as I'm running for president. I don't know if he is, but obviously that's a theory. I think that it's both of them on in different ways. They almost like overgrew their squad. You know what I mean? Like they thought one, the lead singer was bigger than the band and then the band bites back. Right. Yeah. The band is still bigger than the one single person. So but David, I guess what's something that they have in common, right? They're both guys.   Like an Anglo guy, to be honest. They basically just represent the two opposite ends. I'm not going to lie. As an Asian guy who is zero percent theoretically related to either of them. It does seem like very archetypical or stereotypical, right? If you have the Anglo Saxon guy promoting like, I guess Anglo ideals in a conservative way. And then if you have the a black American guy always representing the liberal progressive view, right? Yeah. Yeah. Like kind of like what you would imagine as a foreigner or something. You know what's funny, man? All these people that are on TV, whether it's the right or the left, a lot of them, pretty much 90% of them come from super prominent, rich, wealthy families. Yes. On the left and the right. Yeah. TV and movies, but even these TV political pundits Andrew, they're not from blue collar family. Tucker Carlson is from a very prominent family. Don Lemon is from a prominent family. Anderson Cooper is from a very wealthy family. They're all like all these like almost like I would say maybe nine out of 10 on both sides. Both sides are from very old money families. Yeah. So I don't know. That's one thing that they have in common. So I don't know if that's like, you know, which sort of leads us to our next point about like, are there any Asians that could emerge as political pundits for either side or as a moderate or a no side person? Well, David, seeing as that Asians don't have those legacy families and don't come from prominent wealthy families that have been here for six, seven, eight generations, then maybe there won't be any Asians. I don't know. By the way, I want to acknowledge that there are really rich old money Asians in America now, but they are fobs or immigrants. So necessarily their connections like Andrew, let's say for example, me and you are both chindo billionaires that those connections from Jakarta do not transfer over to America. Yeah, right. Like it's not going to be our family might have been rich for like four generations, but it doesn't transfer to any sort of political power in America. But yeah, I mean, most Asian Americans are just regular, you know, just like us, we're just we're just like our parents are immigrants. They came here. They kind of know they're building up their connections and wealth from zero. To be honest. Let's move on, Andrew. Lisa Ling versus Michelle Malkin. Lisa Ling, a friend of ours is would definitely represent the left. Michelle Malkin and also an Asian girl, both, you know, pretty, both smart, both whatever they would she would represent the right. I think a lot of people watch that show. I think that would be a highly rated show. I'm not going to lie. But I would say Lisa is considered much more, I guess, advanced in her career or more like successful than Michelle. Oh, yeah. Lisa Ling is probably more respected, especially as like kind of a commentator, like world explorer journalist. Shout out to Lisa. Moving on. We got Andrew Yang, Kenny Xu. This is interesting because these are two guys, right? Two Chinese guys, one's Taiwanese, one's mainland Chinese, I believe are American. Both are still American though. Andrew Yang would be considered middle left, like a moderate left and Kenny Xu would be a moderate right. Yeah. I mean, I guess to be honest, there's not too much Asian representation in the political sphere. Obviously, there are some Asian politicians, but as far as pundits, people speaking up and commenting constantly, there's actually not that many.  Right. And right now we're talking about media pundits more than politicians, but I do think if they were going to start like a middle of the road, like a super center, you know, left or right type of show, I think an Asian could easily fit on that show. Um, what about Tammy Duckworth on the left versus Elaine Chao on the right? These are not media personalities. These are actual hardcore high ranking politicians right now that are both Asian. I think it would be really cool to see politicians regularly debate, regularly debate, like constantly on like a right, not just the party lines either, right? Not just the bullet points. It's so boring now. Um, moving on Andrew, let's get to our takeaways. Do we think that there needs to be a show like around the horn where literally our sports analysis in America is so nuanced? It's so 50 50 point counterpoint point counterpoint and literally why is political discourse literally so unbelievably lopsided and divisive? Yeah. No, there is no balanced show. I mean, if you look at this media bias chart, there obviously are more like center of the road news sources that you guys can follow instead of going left, super far left, super far right. But what I would say is like, man, there needs to be shows like first take where you got two pundits who are equally representing each side and maybe a third side that are just going at each other. And then there's also the show BBC puts on in Britain. It's called question time where it even gets the audience involved where it's a selected audience that are very smart and involved. And then they ask questions and there's a panel of five people. Each of them represent a different party of the UK and there's a elected official in there too. Dude, they should have that. They should have that for America. How America needs to learn some things back from the British guys. I know that we don't want to be British anymore. Our system worked without them. But let's go backwards now and see what they got going on in Canada. For example, you're not allowed to run negative campaigns. You can only say how good your politician side is and note the benefits, but you cannot really hardcore diss the other side. And our parents actually like to watch a lot of news from Taiwan. They use a ton of CGI infographics and a lot of pros and cons charts and a lot of like political heat maps and quadrants and graphs and a lot of advanced math to show where different people feel right because at the end of the day, every side has pros and cons. You're more pro economic than you're not as focused on this. You're more focused on this. You're less this like everything is like it's a whole system of like pulleys and levers, right? How come other countries seem way better at just being honest about I think the reason is, and this is the last thing I'll say on this man, I do think it goes back to capitalism, not saying capitalism is all bad and stuff. But what it does do is makes people only focus on profit. So what's more profitable is to find your niche and hammer home at that niche. That's it and focus on your group and extract revenue from your audience. So don't appeal to anybody else. Don't spread yourself thin because that doesn't make you strong in anything because so financially it doesn't make sense. So basically you follow the money. It's going to tell people to go extreme, but it really needs to be more balanced. So there does need to be some billionaires, whether it's Mark Cuban, Elon or whoever else it is, they need to come together and create an actual like balanced like 50 50 news network. And I think that they need pundits that are debating and acknowledging the other side might be making solid points too. Because at the end of the day, if you really understand the nuts and bolts of like different political opinions, Andrew, it actually comes down to priorities. It's not about demonization. No side is evil. No side is good. It's like they have different priorities and different like self incentives different. Their pocketbook is positioned differently. Naturally, that's just what it is in a diverse society. What do you think ultimately needs to happen? Because even if people debate Andrew, these real issues, do people in America even care about the real issues anymore? Or is everybody sort of caring about these other things that are more frosting and toppings instead of the actual cake? Because me and you, we're talking about a station funded by Elon or Mark Cuban or who else that's like very balanced and acknowledges both sides. But would people even want to watch that? Because nowadays people are caught up in the frosting and not the cake that actually makes up a society. You know, you guys let me know in the comments down below what you think about this. But I think overall people, if they watch the debate, yeah, it doesn't change everybody's mind and it doesn't change policy. But it doesn't care. But what people are focused on the frivolous things. So even if you have a great edifying pros and cons debate about the cake and society that people don't even care. And I don't know, guys, you let me know in the comments down below. I do not have a great answer for you right now, David. But maybe I will have one later or maybe someone in the comments down below has a great answer for you. Hey, guys, let us know. Keep it civil. Like we said, Andrew, me and you have not been watching these channels for like, I don't even know 20 years.  So anyways, you guys, let me know in the comments down below what you think about all this doesn't matter to you or not or whatever. Let me know in the comments until next time. We out. Peace.


Good morning and good evening to our viewers joining us from around the world. My name is Alfred Boll and I represent EducationUSA and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. Today's Facebook Live is about community colleges and why international students should consider community colleges as an attractive option when looking to study in the United States. Our goal at EducationUSA is to help international students identify the American college or university where they are best placed for success and community colleges are an excellent option for many students. There are over 550 EducationUSA advisors in 181 countries and territories around the world offering free advising services to help you identify a school and to help you navigate the admissions process. There are over 4,700 accredited U.S. colleges and universities and EducationUSA promotes all of them. I'm excited to introduce our guest speakers who have a wealth of knowledge on community colleges and who can tell us about what is known as the 2 plus 2 model. Joining us virtually is Dawn Wood. Dawn is the Dean of International Programs at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She has over 20 years of experience in international education. Welcome Dawn. Thank you. Joining me here, welcome. Thank you. Joining me here in our studio is Wayne Wheeler. Wayne represents the U.S. Community College sector through his work at the American Association of Community Colleges. As the director of AACC's International Office, he develops initiatives that help advocate for community colleges. Welcome Wayne. Thank you. Also joining me here is Edward Tachim. Edward is an international student from Cameroon. He just graduated from Prince George's Community College in Maryland with an associates degree in computer science. In the fall, he will attend the University of Maryland College Park to pursue a bachelor's degree in computer science. Welcome Edward. Thank you. During the program we will be answering questions live from all of you on Facebook. So if you have questions you would like to ask any of our speakers, please post them at any time during this program in the comments section below. Wayne, I wonder if you could start our discussion by giving us an overview of community colleges. There are over 1,000 community colleges in the United States. How are they different from traditional universities? Well community colleges were established over 100 years ago to bring higher education into the local community to educate as many citizens as possible. Today about half of all undergraduates in the U.S. are enrolled at community colleges. That's incredible. They provide great opportunities not only for international students but also domestic students about actually the largest percentage of international students who come to the U.S. in pursuit of an undergraduate education are enrolled at community colleges. Last year it was a little more than 94,000 international students. That's incredible. So why would a student choose a community college? Well there are many community colleges spread across the United States. But they have a common mission and one important part of that is that they provide the first two years of a university education and they provide that at a very affordable cost. Much lower than they would have to pay at a four-year college or university. A high quality education for a lower cost. Got it. So that's a major factor. And then there's also what is known as the 2 plus 2 model. How does that, so why would a student choose a community college thinking about going on after that? Yes. Well as I stated they provide the first two years of a university education. And then after that the student can take their course credits and transfer them to a four-year college or university. And to make that process seamless community colleges, every community college in the nation has articulation agreements with four-year colleges and universities to make that a smooth process so that when a student gets to the four-year college or university they start as a junior. They do two additional years, the junior and senior year to get a bachelor's degree from that institution the same degree as if they had started at that institution as a freshman. But they've done two years at a community college which was a different institution, a different experience and more economical. More affordable. Got it. Okay. Is there also, can students at a community college do things like optional practical training which is something that many students look for? Yes, that's a great benefit for international students because after getting their associate degree they can get an additional one year of optional practical training. They wouldn't be able to get that if they went to a four-year college or university. They would have to, they would get it after their bachelor's degree but if they started a community college they can get it after their associate's degree then also after their bachelor's degree. Okay. One quick question. Is every student guaranteed entrance into a four-year college or are there some conditions on that? There are some conditions. There are articulation agreements as I mentioned. Our articulation agreements, a lot of community colleges also have guaranteed admission agreements. And so there are terms to these agreements that students must meet. They should check with their college counselors to make sure that they are meeting the terms for the institution that they wish to transfer to. A lot of community colleges as well as four-year institutions now have on their websites lists of their transfer partners. So an international student if they know which four-year college or university they wish to transfer to they can look at that institution's website and look to see which community colleges are transfer partners. Likewise they can look on the community college website to see which four-year institutions are transfer partners. But it's important that they meet the terms of those agreements because without meeting those terms some course credits can transfer but they stand the risk that some of their course credits may not transfer. I see. So it's the transferring and I assume they're also like GPA grade point grades that they have to get under most agreements to be able to transfer? Yes. Absolutely. Okay. So a reason to work hard at college no matter what? Absolutely. Okay. Excellent. Quality is still a big part of the American higher education in all sectors. Yes. Yes. Okay. Thank you very much. So I know one additional question our viewers must be thinking about is for international students who are considering applying to a community college are there any scholarship opportunities at community colleges? Well most community colleges don't provide scholarships to incoming students. One exception to that are athletic scholarships. Some community colleges participate in competitive sports and they may offer athletic scholarships to incoming students. And to find out more about those the students should check with the college because there are some restrictions and requirements that the college has to meet in providing those scholarships. After the first year at a community college many community colleges provide merit based scholarships based on how well the student does during the first year. And then upon graduation there are many transfer scholarships that are provided by four year colleges and universities to well performing community college students. Okay. Very interesting. So students should check a community colleges website to get information about articulation agreements about possible scholarships and then about merit based scholarships after the first year. So again another reason to work hard and do well. Yes. And for the transfer scholarships they really should look at the website of Phi Theta Kappa which is the community college honor society. And actually they are an affiliated council of the American Association of Community Colleges so students can go to our association website and click on the link for Phi Theta Kappa to look at the transfer scholarships that are available. Excellent. So transfer scholarships another thing you can't count on but they're available they're competitive and for well performing students. For well performing students excellent. So academic excellence is rewarded in all parts of the U.S. higher education system. Absolutely. One way or another. That's good. Thank you very much. So what I'm sure one thing people are thinking about is housing. What should students expect in terms of housing at a community college? Well many community colleges don't have on campus housing however they are expert in providing home stays to international students which gives an opportunity for the student to experience the local culture, participate in events that are happening in the local community as well as on campus. It also provides them with opportunities to hone their English language skills if that's something that they wish to do. Community colleges also provide housing, local housing referrals to international students. And some of those arrangements are for dormitory style housing. Some colleges have those arrangements with housing providers that have facilities right across the street from their campus so it's not very far from campus. So while it's not necessarily what students are thinking about housing in terms of four-year institutions, dormitories, there are lots of options and community colleges think about this as part of their organization and they take care of students in helping them find housing that's appropriate for them. Yes. Yes. And in my looking at the data it appeared that housing wasn't a determining factor for international students also because many of our community colleges that have large numbers of international students each year don't have housing. But like I stated, they have housing options, other housing options that are attractive to international students. Thank you very much. Thank you for sharing such valuable, interesting information, Wayne. I'd like to turn to you, Don. I think it's the perfect time to talk about some of the eligibility requirements for community colleges. Would you be able to tell us a bit about how it works? Absolutely. Yeah, for international students who want to come to community colleges, typically the admission process is much simpler and easier. So sometimes students choose to come to community college because there's not a lot of entrance exams. There's flexible language requirements. Many of the community colleges in the U.S. have an English language offering. So you can take some ESL classes to prepare you to enter the regular academic classes. So for example, if you need a high TOEFL to enter the universe of your choice, you might choose to come to a community college first to improve your English language proficiency to get up to the level that's required for that university that you'd like to go to. OK, that's that's fantastic. So entrance exams English is all different. That's that's a lot of stuff for students to consider in terms of an attractive way to enter into the higher education system.  You've been at a community college. Can you tell us about your journey and why you decided to go to a community college? Sure. So I'm a young, born Cameroonian, and I came to the United States in the fall of 2016. And when I came here, I was searching for affordability and also ease of access. So I chose a community college because it is very affordable. And in terms of accessing it, it's also very close to where I leave that. OK, fantastic. So it was a practical natural decision. Yes. I hear Prince George's Community College chose you to be the commencement speaker at graduation. Correct. That's an amazing honor. Now that you've actually graduated from from your community college, can you share your perspective on the benefits of attending a community college where you were at Prince George's? Absolutely. I think for an international student attending a community college, it's a great thing because of the class sizes. First, because the class sizes are very narrowed down as compared to a traditional large classroom size. So you would say the ratio between students and faculty is, I could say 20 to one. So you have that relationship with your faculty. So class sizes are one thing. But also you have that opportunity to experience a culture because you have many students from across the globe who meet at a community college and have different cultures that you get to learn being at a community college. So I would say being at a community college for two years was a great experience that I would not exchange for anything. So you clearly bonded with classmates. Yes, I did. I'd like to hear a little bit about that in terms of, you know, those good relationships, friendship. Do you think you're going to keep friends that you made at Prince George's for life? Absolutely. And the reason I say that is because being in the center of focus of student life as a student government president, I got to meet a lot of students from around the globe. So I made a lot of friendships and those would last a lifetime. OK, you also mentioned your professors. Tell us a little bit about that. I mean, did they? I know that one of the benefits of a community college is small class sizes. Right. But did you get what's the attention like from your professors? So you need to first look at it this way. You have very experienced professors who teach you. Now, if you have that opportunity to be in a small classroom size with an individual that has this amount of knowledge, it's just incredible. So being in the class with a professor and having to talk to him about the issues you have with a certain class or a particular chapter in the class was really interesting. So I am a computer science student, for example. And let's say I'm working on this computer program and there is this call that I can't find a bug in. So I would just either email the professor or just walk straight to his office during his office hours. Again, he does not have a lot of students to attend to. So I bonded a lot with most of my professors. And up to this date, I talked to most of them. OK, that's fantastic. I'm interested in also hearing your perspective on the agreement on the 2 plus 2 model, because you are an example. You've just finished at Prince George's and you're about to move to the University of Maryland. Right. How did that work? Was that an easy process? Yes, it was an easy process because at a community college, you have a chance to take up to 60 credits general education classes for the most part. And there are articulation agreements with most four year institutions. So as soon as you get your associate's degree at the community college, it's easy to transfer to a four year university and continue thereof as a junior and complete the rest of the two years over there. Did you know that you wanted to go to University of Maryland? Were there other options? Could were there where were there articulation agreements? Or, you know, did you have different options to think about? I did have different options to think about. But in terms of priority, University of Maryland came top on my list. But I also did apply to University of Maryland, Baltimore County. I also applied to Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, Washington University, Johns Hopkins. So, yes, there are different options. And most of these four year institutions do have articulation agreements. That's fantastic. So students also have to do their homework. You know, at Education USA, where our advisors are helping students find the right fit. And so it sounds like when you leave a community college and you want to transfer, you still need to think hard about what's the right fit for me? Where should I go into a four year institution? Absolutely. Because, again, remember, this is your future we're talking about. So if you're really interested about what you become at the end of the day, you have to do your own homework. So a community college is a good place to start. But then in order to move on to a four year institution, you have to do your research in terms of scholarships, you know, affordability, location. And yeah, definitely, a student has a part to play. OK, that's that's amazing. I know we're going to come back to lots of topics. Thank you both. Thank you. Sorry, Don as well. But I want to so I want to thank all our panelists for the for a very insightful conversation so far. Let's now take some questions from our viewers, because I think we're getting a lot of viewers. So our first viewer asks, what are my chances of getting admitted to a community college if my English level isn't very high? Don, could I turn to you for that? Yes, I think the the the chances of getting admitted to community colleges are very high, because many community colleges offer ESL and do not require a TOEFL or an IELTS or an entrance exam to begin your studies. So when you arrive with the lower English level, you can start in our language learning programs that then allow you to easily transition into the academic programs once you're once you're ready. So there the admission process, as I mentioned earlier, is very is set up to be very easy because community colleges in general are all about access and wanting to get as many people in the door to access the education and English language classes under academic classes that we can. So most of the community colleges have special admissions advisors for international students that you should connect with and ask your questions. They're ready to help you get started. That's fantastic. So again, reach out, send an email, ask a question. Don't be shy. The students around the world, you know, use your education, USA advisors to to help, but you have to manage the admissions process yourself. And so it's great to know here that community colleges are so open, even if students don't have a high level of English, that that's not at all a barrier. So our next question is if I go to a community college, will there be many international students or will everyone else be from the United States? That's a great question. I'd like to ask you, Wayne. Yeah, sure. It really depends on which community college that you're looking at. There are some community colleges which are very large. They have over 100,000 students, but there are some that are very small and have just less than 5000 students. There are some that have a lot of international students, but there are some that have less than 100 or so. So it really depends and a lot of the community colleges do have information about that on their websites. So you can look to see how many international students they usually have from year to year. And and many of them even post where those students are coming from, how many countries, what languages they speak, etc. That's great. So basically if a student is looking for the right fit, she or he should do the research and they can find these answers. Where students are coming from, how many, how big the school is. Yes. And at the beginning, I said that community colleges are the largest, most diverse sector of U.S. higher education. And part of that is that a large portion of the immigrant communities in the U.S. also go to community colleges. It's a community colleges are their first choice for higher education. So you will also get immigrants from a lot of different countries that are there at community colleges as well. Thank you very much, Edward. Let me ask you just as you actually had this experience. What was Prince George's like just as a snapshot? Lots of international students, lots of Americans. How did you meet both? Yes, I did meet both. So Prince George's Community College, I would say was like a melting pot. So you had a lot of international students, but also you had American born students. So it's it was a good mix of both international and an American student. So I want to recall one thing, too. I I learned that you were student government president. That's correct, which is fantastic, which also indicates a lot of trust in you, including as an international student. How was that dynamic?  And I assume that you were dealing with all kinds of students. I was, I was actually you're right. I was elected by the student body. But in that position, I learned a lot about not only the American culture, but also how to deal with people. So that was a great experience because that you learn to develop yourself again, not being from here. You learn to acquaint yourself with things that are not normally familiar with you. So yeah, that was a good way for me to learn about the culture and also to grow my serve as an individual. That's fantastic. Thank you. Thank you both. Right. So our next question is, do community colleges have the same type of extracurricular activities or organizations that are found at universities? Dawn, let me let you let me ask you how things are at Kirkwood. Yeah, absolutely. At Kirkwood, our international students get involved in everything. We have intramural sports. We have competitive sports. We have student organizations, including the student government, like Edward mentioned, and clubs of all different kinds that you can get involved in, you know, STEM club, biology club. And there's and we have an international student leadership team started at Kirkwood, so you can serve on the government or on leadership team. So it's really a lot of options. That's fantastic. I'd like to also add that, yes, they do have lots of opportunities for students to become engaged with organizations on campus. They that for your institutions have, but they also have some that for your institutions do not have. I know that a few years ago, I came in contact with some community colleges in the Midwest that had a rodeo club that actually was a competitive rodeo. And so that's something unique, I think. That's fantastic. So the fact that there are so many different community colleges with so many students there also means that it sounds like they're very creative in extracurricular co-curricular activities. Yes, and not only on campus, but also connecting with the local community as well. OK, and that's a very important thing for us at EducationUSA. We want students to have a real experience in the United States and to be part and parcel of American communities, of our families, to have a real experience here and have every chance to benefit from the US. So and that means critical thinking, everything that happens in the classroom, but as well, experiences at home. So could you tell us a little bit about homestays because that's a little bit like co-curricular activities. Do students engage with families a lot with, you know, with their communities that they're in? Yes, well, they're located right there in the local community. Often homestays are with families that volunteer to take in international students. They're located in the local community and the families seek to provide opportunities for the international student to become involved in the local community, to meet friends there, to participate in events there. It's really a great introduction to the real America outside of the campus. And I'm sure that Dawn can probably speak to homestays also that she might provide through her institution as well. Absolutely, Dawn, can we turn to you? Yeah, right. We have, at Kirkwood, we have homestays as well as mentor family opportunities so that we can connect students with families in the community so they can go to their homes for holidays and different activities, go to parks, go to athletic events. But also we do a lot of community service with our international students, so we connect them with local organizations. Community service and volunteering is kind of part of American culture, so we try to introduce our international students to that as well. We've had students, how a home, like Habitat for Humanity, all types of different things so that they get involved and meet other Americans who are also doing this type of volunteer activity and that's been really successful. That's fantastic. Thank you so much, Dawn and Wayne. Our next question, our viewer asks, there are so many community colleges in the USA. How do I choose the right one for me? Excellent question. Wayne, let me turn to you. Yes, there are a lot of community colleges and it is a large country. And we were talking about that a little bit earlier and so to narrow it down, you can even narrow it down by location. Whether or not you'd like to study in a large cosmopolitan urban city or if you'd like to study in a small urban town, you can also choose to study in places where it's warm year round or in places where you can experience the snow in the wintertime. The four seasons, right, exactly. So it's about doing research. Dawn, anything you want to add about how students find their way to you, for example? Right, I think it's also important for students to look and see what type of services are available to international students at that particular college that they're going to because, as Wayne mentioned, there's so much diversity in community colleges and some community colleges are more involved in international activities than others and maybe have more international students or more access to international programming. So I think that's an important thing to consider and make sure you talk to somebody at the institution. Most colleges will have a way for you to talk to a current student or get on their Facebook site and interact with some current students. So you kind of know the culture of that college before you go. That's great advice. Thank you very much. Also, I'd like to add that articulation agreements are more common between community colleges and four-year colleges and universities in the same state. We have 50 different states, but you may also wish to choose which community college by what state the four-year institution or college is located in. That's very good advice. So I think so both are linked. I know there is a trend or at least the beginning of what might be a trend for articulation agreements between institutions in different states. That is even like very far away. Oh, yeah. I know some community colleges on the West Coast that have articulation agreements with four-year colleges and institutions on the East Coast. Is there a way to see which institutions? Do you just have to go to each institution's website to see where their agreements are? Is there a compilation of that somewhere? That's probably the best way to do it, is to actually look at if you know which four-year institution you wish to go to, look at that institution's website. If you know which community college you'd like to go to because the location, et cetera, to check the website of the community college to see which four-year institutions they have articulation agreements with. That's a great point so you can start at either end. You can start looking at the four-year or the two-year and vice versa. Absolutely. Dawn, just to go back to you quickly, can you tell us where does Kirkwood have articulation agreements with? So we have articulation agreements with most all the universities and colleges in our state, which is Iowa, but also in some bordering states. And even if we don't have a specific articulation agreement, we have students transfer to over 50 different states and oppress the world because usually we've had students transfer to California or to the East Coast or to Texas. So students can transfer the credits because as long as a community college is an accredited institution, the credits are accredited by the same body as the universities are accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. So we need to make sure students don't just get limited by just the articulation because in general, students can transfer anywhere. We have our motto, start here, go anywhere. And a lot of community colleges say that because it really is true. That is a fantastic point. Thank you for that. Yes, and so I made a great point looking for community colleges that are accredited and it's really the regional accreditation that students should look for. And I'd like to point out that our Association American Association Community Colleges has a database on their website of all the accredited community colleges in the US. So they can look there, you can look by location and you can also look by the name of the institution. That's, thank you both. That's fantastic advice. So students, as you're researching, look at these databases, talk to your education USA advisors who can help. But this is how you do your research and come up with the institutions that you're interested in that could be a right fit.  She even made the point that some community colleges have articulation agreements with institutions outside of the country. Right, yeah, it's quite incredible. So a lot of food for thought and another reason to look at community colleges. Let's go to a question from Ihan from Turkey who is asking I am currently studying in my home country when is the appropriate time to start applying to a community college in the US? Maybe that's a good question for you, Dawn. You need to apply at least a couple of months prior to the start of the semester that you want to begin in. And typically some community colleges are on semester, some of them are on quarter. So they might have three start times in a year or four start times in a year. Because we try to make the admission process very smooth, usually you can apply just a couple of months, at least eight to 12 weeks prior to the start of the semester. The important thing is to give yourself time to get the visa which is what the Education USA advisors will help you do once you get your I-20. So it will depend a little bit on which country you're from but we usually would advise you to apply as early as you can if you know where you're going. You might as well get that application in early so you get the I-20 and you're ready to go get your visa and prepare before you arrive. Some of our institutions even have rolling admissions so you can really apply at any time and then the next semester or quarter that comes up you can get into those courses. So basically reach out to the institution and ask and see what the timeline is, rolling admissions or if there's a fixed admissions deadline. Edward I'm curious, how did this work with you? When did you apply and how did you decide when to apply? So originally coming here I was hoping to go to Capitol Technology University but when I got here I realized it was very expensive. So I applied as soon as I got here then a month after I applied to a community college because the university I was trying to go into was like I think $14,000 a semester $14,000 a semester whereas Prince George's Community College was not up to $3,000 a semester. So I applied as soon as I got here a month later I applied to a community college. So you did your homework and you applied right away? Absolutely. Was it because there was a deadline upcoming or was it a running admission? It was a running admission actually it was a running admission and like she said usually they have admissions quarterly so it's not only once a semester you could have it for the fall and have midway through the fall then before the winter session starts as well. Did you find good information on websites? I mean when you were researching this? I did find good information but I found that it also helps to go there in person because you get the chance to talk to an actual person and voice out all your concerns and questions. So if people are in the U.S. of course they can just... Absolutely. But if they're not in the U.S. they could send emails or use the websites. Yes and now most websites are actually updated very often so the information you find on there could be very, very helpful as well. Okay, excellent. Thank you very much. I'm sure the Education USA advisors have a lot of that information also about when to apply. Definitely, yeah, absolutely. That's part of any good part of the five step process. The way we think of it in terms of applying is really timing your application well. Thank you very much, that's excellent. So we have, I know that we've spoken about this but it's good to emphasize certain points because our viewers are really thinking about certain issues. Do I need to take a standardized test to apply to a community college? Dawn, could you go through that again? Right, again, all community colleges are different but I would say most community colleges do not require a standardized test for admission to the community college. So you should be fine at most community colleges without any kind of standardized test for admission. If you have taken it, which is still a good idea if you're still keeping your options open like a TOEFL or an IELTS, those type of tests you could send your results. But for example, I would say 95% don't require ACT, SAT, GMAT, GRE, any of those type of tests are not usually required. So it means that your grades at community college are all the more important because what you're using to apply then to a four year institution would be your record, essentially your record from community college, is that right? That's right, right. It's really important to pay attention to your grades while you're at the community college because if you get good grades at the community college there's a chance you could get a scholarship at the university that you're going to go to and also setting yourself up to be well-prepared for university classes. There's studies that have been done that have shown that students who start at community colleges are actually more successful at the university than students who start as a freshman. So that's because we really individualize the instruction and we try to really keep track of our students and check on them. For example, if someone's not going to class the instructors are gonna know and they're probably gonna reach out to my office, the international office and ask, hey, what happened to Edward? Where is he today? And we'll try to find them and see what's going on. We really care about our students. That's that, please Edward. To pick it up from where it don't end at, keeping up good grades is very important because once you have a certain GPA, Honor Society starts sending you invitation letters. Like you mentioned, Fight to the Copper Honor Society. If you have above a 3.0 GPA, I think, automatically they send you an email inviting you to join them because of your outstanding work. So maintaining a good GPA is very important and it also opens doors to numerous scholarships and other opportunities as well. That's great advice. One of the things that we're very proud about when we talk about an American higher education overseas is the quality of our education and emphasizing to students around the world that the reason to come to the United States, one of the reasons is the personal attention they get on all our campuses. That our schools are dedicated to their academic professional and personal success. And I think this example of community colleges about how you do this is the best one of really a focus on the student's best interest and that success moving forward. So let's go to our next question because I know we have a lot. Osama from Israel would like to know is there an age limit to enter community colleges? That's a great question. Wayne, do you want to take that? Well, there isn't such a stringent age requirement as you might find at a four year college university. The average age of a community college student is around 28 years old. But there are some community colleges that have, for instance, high school completion programs. Many community colleges, actually the whole sector have enrolls the largest number of plus 50 students. Also about 8% of students at community colleges already have their bachelor's degree. So it really depends, but in general, generally speaking, you would have to have graduated from high school. I think that's across the board. Could get you into community college, but like I said, some have high school completion programs as well. Okay, that's great. Edward, did you see, were there all ages in your program? Absolutely, it's interesting because I made friends with a lot of people who were older than I was. I had some friends who were 40, 50, and it's interesting to be young and try to learn from people who were older than you. So I did have that experience learning from other people. That's great. So that's a part of the whole experience? Absolutely, and I guess that's where it gets its name from, the community college. It's like a community of different individuals all together in the same learning environment. That's a great way to see it. And actually Prince George has a special program where they actually have a high school on their campus. Right, that's amazing. So you have a lot of high schoolers who go to class with us, and when we graduate with our associate's degree, in the morning they graduate with the high school diplomas and in the evening they graduate with an associate's degree. So it's really incredible. Yeah, so they can graduate with both, the high school diploma and associate's degree at the same time. Simultaneously. That's so creative. So actually that's great because it leads into our next question, which I'll ask Don. Our viewer asks, what degree do you earn after successfully completing community college? Right, so the name of the degree is the associate's degree.  Yes, as Don said, a two year degree is called an associate's degree in the US. And so that's what you would get from a community college. But I'd like to also point out that there are some community colleges that offer baccalaureate degrees in applied fields. So a community college may offer a bachelor's degree depending on which field that you're studying as well. Very interesting. So it can depend on the college as well as the field. OK, Edward, do you notice Prince George's offer any bachelor's degrees? At one of its extension centers, yes. The Laurel College Center, because Prince George's community college has at least four extension centers. Aside from the main campus in Largo. So I know Laurel College Center in partnership with Morgan State University and the University of Maryland University College does offer bachelor's degree and baccalaureate degrees as well. OK, OK, thank you. It's good to get that specific perspective. This is an example. So our next viewer, Christine, asks, how do international students apply for scholarships and financial aid? Don, can I go to you again? Yes. So for example, at Kirkwood, you would apply for the scholarships as you're applying for admission. But as Wayne mentioned, at Kirkwood we do have some scholarships for incoming students. But at some institutions, you might have to wait until you're a current student, which you can also do at Kirkwood. And most colleges will have a scholarship office that has a separate application for applying, which typically are very easy applications. It's just a matter of filling it out, submitting it, and if you have good grades that typically qualifies you for something, you might get a different type of scholarship, like an athletic scholarship. If you're interested in the athletic scholarships, you really need to contact the coach that is responsible for that particular sport at your college in order to apply for the scholarship. So there might be different ways of doing it at each institution, but there's usually somebody you can ask at the institution about what the process is there. Fantastic. So reach out, ask the questions early. Our next viewer, Jocelyn, would like to know what kind of honors programs are available at community colleges. Edward, I know you spoke, and you talked a little bit about what was available. Yes. So two main honors programs that I know of at Prince George's Community College was Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, as well as the National Society of Community Colleges. So those honor society work pretty much simply.  And all you have to do is reach back out to them and subscribe to the honor society. OK, interesting. Wayne, anything you want to add? Not really, but I guess belonging to honor society, also the society provides you with a lot of information that you might wish to have if you're transferring. For instance, I mentioned that on Phi Theta Kappa's website, they have a robust database of information about transfer scholarships. And they also have other activities that students can engage in as well, volunteer activities. I think there are some study abroad and research opportunities that they have that their members participate in as well. Fantastic. So to look at honors opportunities in a holistic perspective and say lots of things can flow from that as well, being associated to those programs. OK, so our next question is from the viewing party at the Education USA Center in Medellin, Colombia. Our viewers ask, what is the price range for community colleges? That's a great and important question. Wayne, can I turn to you for that? Well, it's been a number of years since I've actually looked at that. But when I did, it was I like to stay away from the exact numbers, just like I said it was a few years ago. But when I looked at it, international students could expect to pay less than one third the cost that they would normally have to pay at a four-year public college or university. And if you're talking about a private four-year college or university, it's just a fraction of the cost. Because that can be at a private institution, it could be $40,000, $50,000 in some sort of year. Don, would you be able to give us some perspective from where you sit? Sure, there is a range of costs. So you'll find in some states it's quite a bit less than other states. But for example, at Kirkwood, the tuition alone is about $9,000 per year. So that is substantially lower than, say, universities that are in our region. But you'll find there is some variation. So each state will be a little bit different. OK, thank you very much. And so students need to research this. This is a big thing that they need to look into specifically. Don, if I can stay with you for our next question. Our question, they ask, do community colleges provide any support for off-campus internships? Do you have any programs like that? We do, actually. So one of our programs at Kirkwood is our hospitality and tourism management program. And for that program, for example, internship is required. And you'll find that community colleges in general, and we will help students to find an internship and also to get the appropriate authorization to work in the United States. OK, thank you very much, Edward. Did you have internship options? Did you think about that? I did have internship options. One thing that I know at Prince George's Community College, at the beginning of every year, we have job fairs. So during those fairs, you have companies from across DC, Maryland, Virginia, come to the college and actually talk to students. So if your resume is convincing, again, you have to do your own homework, by presenting a very good resume, you would certainly always get those opportunities for internships. I like the fact that you always bring us back to it. It's an individual responsibility. Students have to do this. They have to work at it. Nothing comes automatically, but there are lots of opportunities. Right, think about it. If a job recruiter has five opportunities for internships and he has 1,000 students coming across this table, you have to stand out. So if your resume stands out, if you could speak for yourself, if you could sell yourself, you would definitely get those opportunities. That's fantastic. That's very good advice. And I like to add that community colleges often, because they have such close ties to their local communities, often have very close ties to private industry within those communities as well. It sounds like a wide variety of industry that, in fact, may not think of going to a four-year college. Very interesting, very interesting. A lot of food for thought for our viewers. Our next question is, do most community colleges have dorms, or do I need to get an apartment off campus? We spoke about this, but let's go back. Dawn, can I ask you, how does it look at Kirkwood? So at Kirkwood, we don't own our own housing, but we partner with many local apartments that are within walking distance of the campus. So I found this to be a trend at a lot of other community colleges too, where we have 4,000 apartment spots that are open around the campus, and we partner with them. And it's primarily like student housing. They have resident assistance. They even have activities going on. So even if the college doesn't own their own housing, there's probably a good housing option nearby where a lot of students live that we can refer you to. Thank you, Dawn. And that's very much what you described before, about lots of different options. Community colleges are thinking about this. They're organized for this. They have advice for students and information. And I assume, like the college, the idea is that this is housing that's affordable for students, and that it is student housing. Right, right. Would you say that's fair, Dawn? Yes, absolutely. That is definitely true. OK, I appreciate that. And sorry for the technical issues that we're having. So our next question is, how can a community college prepare me for different job opportunities and careers? That's an excellent question, because not everyone is going to go on to a four-year institution or want to go on to an institution. Many community colleges are actually, their purpose is to prepare students to go right into the job market. Dawn, how do you see that? You mentioned hospitality. Edward did computer science. Right. That's an interesting thing. What are those areas where students are looking at jobs right away? Well, there's a lot of areas, particularly business and IT. We have a lot of also applied science areas where students are going directly into the workforce. Even liberal arts, when students can get that work experience where Wayne talked about having an optional practical training year in between your associate's degree and your completion of your bachelor degree, those work experience are invaluable as you're working towards your career and what you want to do in your life. So we have a career services office. And most community colleges have career services office that do mock interviews, that will have career fairs that will help you to plan out your resume. All of those type of hands-on things that you need for job seeking. Thank you very much, Dawn. Wayne, anything that you want to add to that perspective, because you see a lot of community colleges, right? Is this common? It's very common. About more than half of the students at community colleges, they do come to transfer to four-year colleges at university universities. About 58% of them. The other portion are coming to go directly into the workforce. And that's usually in the form of obtaining a certificate to go directly into the workforce. And as Dawn had mentioned, there are community colleges have very close ties to industry and also provide great opportunities, even before they graduate, to work on state-of-the-art equipment, for instance, on the campus and in the various industries and to really equip the student to function properly and successfully once they come to an employer. Or Prince George's, I believe they have a special program. We work very closely with the employer at the nuclear power plant, where they provide even scholarships to students who wish to go into that program and provide state-of-the-art equipment for them to train on in order to go into the field. That's incredible. So the thing to really take away from this is that this is state-of-the-art. I mean, community colleges are excellent institutions that have a time, because their focus is on the practical results for students, right? It's jobs or it's further study. But it's all about launching students into a positive career and professional path. Absolutely. And at the association, actually, we help to administer the Advanced Technological Education Program that the National Science Foundation funds. And that prepares students to be technicians in cutting-edge technologies that are important to the economy for the nation. And that effort is led by community colleges around the country who partner with Fourier institutions as well as high schools and private industry. That's fantastic. Thank you very much. Our next question is, this is a really good one, how they've all been very good. But this may have was something I was wondering about, how do I declare a major at a community college? Or am I just beginning courses and I would do so later? How does that work? Wayne, and then we'll go to all of you. Yeah, I can answer a little bit, but I think Don might have more detailed information. Community colleges do offer majors for students who are attending. However, in particular, for students who are looking to transfer, you're really getting the introductory classes that you would normally get at a four-year college or university. I know when I was going those first two years, we're really sort of introductory classes, requirements to go into certain fields once I got to be a junior. OK, interesting. Don, how does it work at Kirkwood? Right, so what Wayne is talking about is usually referred to as liberal arts. So students would declare the major of liberal arts if they're going to be transferring to a four-year university in a variety of subjects. But they could also choose to have a major such as nursing or the hospitality management program, computer science, engineering, if they have a specific path. So we try to meet with each student at the beginning, identify their pathway, and make sure they're on the right track to get to the point they need to when they transfer, or if they're looking for that two-year degree and say nursing, that they complete all the requirements in that time. OK, thank you very much. Our final question, what types of support are offered to international students at community colleges? That's kind of a very wide-ranging question. We've heard about lots of different things. But campuses have support services. Dawn, how does that work on your campus and generally in terms of thinking about interacting with students as they move through the system? I think it's often overwhelming to international students how many services are provided to them for free when they arrive at a community college. Because for example, we have a free recreation center. We have free counseling. We have free advising. So many services. The career counseling I talked about are all part and parcel of being a community college student. There's international student advisors that help with cultural adjustment. There's just so many services available that sometimes it can be a little overwhelming. So it just takes some time to adjust to all the things that are available to you. I believe it. Edward, let me ask you, what was your experience in person? To pick it up from where Dawn ended, it's overwhelming when you get to a community college at first. Never been in America, you get there. There are a lot of resources to help guide you. Because again, most community colleges have different pathways. So I, for one, I went there knowing I wanted to transfer. But if you're going there, let's say for example, to get a degree and get straight into the workforce, it's going to be different. So I really got guidance as to what classes I needed to take that would help me transfer. That was one of the good things I really appreciated about community college. But also guidance as to how to deal with financial literacy, for example. Those were things that, coming into the country, even no one tells you about you end up having debt or finding yourself in a very bad posture financially. So those are the type of guidance I got at Prince George's Community College through the Financial Empowerment Center. You also have counseling. So if you have a problem or if you're suffering from stress or whatever, you could go there and talk to a counselor or someone who would guide you. And you also have the health center if you have a headache or a fever. So just these type of resources are available to us. And that really makes your experience at a community college really unique. And one thing I also want to mention is student support services. That's student clubs. There is an experience in the classroom, but the experience outside of the classroom also matters to me. Because you can't get everything from a professor. Certain things you need to learn from other people and you need to learn in life. So all these services combined together really made my experience good at Prince George's Community College. That's amazing to hear. And that's really an impressive list of things that enhance a student's whole life. Right. Yeah, and there's an assumption that I want to say specifically about tutoring services that are available at community colleges as well as services for students who have disabilities as well. All institutions in the US have services for those students who have disabilities. And community colleges do as well. I'm so glad you pointed that out, Wayne. That's great. We did a webinar regarding facilities for students with disabilities just a little while ago. And that's a fantastic point that extends to community colleges as well. Absolutely. A fantastic range. So everything from the academic part of things, the personal side of things, the co-curricular side of things, there are all kinds of services. Absolutely. That's a great vision. So unfortunately, we are almost out of time. But I would like to ask each of our participants to share a final thought for our viewers. Dawn, could I start with you? Sure. I would just like to invite everyone to reach out to someone at a community college as you're making this decision to decide on your future education. Because for the majority, like Wayne mentioned, of students in the United States, they look at this option as well. And I think it's a little known type of educational opportunity that's available to international students and really provides a wonderful transition. There's so many people just ready on the phone or on a video conference to chat with you about it. So reach out and ask your questions. That's my final comment. That's a great vision. Thank you, Dawn. Wayne. Yes. I'd like to mention once again that community colleges are a great opportunity for international students. They provide a high quality education for a lower cost. Each year, our association honors outstanding alumni who are leaders in their field who started out at community colleges, who have gone on to do very wonderful things and won international awards for the work that they do. So I just want to mention that and let people know that community colleges are really looking for and welcoming international students on their campus. Thank you. That's a great vision to leave our viewers with. Thank you, Wayne. Edward. So like I earlier mentioned, when I came to this country, I didn't want to go to a community college because there's always this conception that four-year universities are better than community colleges. But now, having gone through a community college, I would say it's a great experience for an international student because you're immersed in the American culture and you have really, really opportunities to discover yourself and to not only excel academically, but to excel as a person. And one thing any international student should keep at the back of his or her mind coming to the United States is you have to frame your future. So even at a community college, you have to keep doing your research.   Fantastic words of advice, Edward. I can't thank you enough. That's an amazing way to thank for every student, no matter what year he wants to pursue in life and in studies. Thank you for joining us today. And of course, a special thank you to our guests, Don, Wayne, and Edward. A very special thanks to our viewing groups joining us from around the world, and especially those at the American Corner in Pristina Kosovo, Education USA in Medellin, Colombia, Education USA in Managua, Nicaragua, and Education USA in Maracaibo, Venezuela. I also want to issue a special thanks to our Global Public Affairs video team who does such fantastic work to produce these webinars. And our whole team at Education USA who is running them behind the scenes. You do fantastic work. You can find more information about studying in the United States by visiting the Education USA website at www.educationusa.state.gov. There you can find information on the five steps to US study, locate an Education USA advising center in your country, one of 439 around the world, connect with us via social media, learn about both in-person and virtual upcoming events, research financial aid opportunities, and much more. Thank you, and please join us for future Education USA interactive web chats. Goodbye from Washington.


What's up team? It is your biggest fan the real Casadero here back again It's been a few days and I figured that I should give you guys some sort of update on what's going on So in one of the previous videos, I talked about doing a 365 day Coding challenge and then inside of that 365 days I was gonna build an app from start to finish and then put it online and market it and the drive traffic to it and And do all this stuff and I'm still working on that and this is an update on how on how this I also talked about in one of the previous videos about the direction I want to take the channel and there's some different things I want to do and and so the This channel the real Casadero this is this is this is me Talking about that the things the things that I'm doing the things that I'm working on and they're all software related They're all code related. They're all marketing related. They're all sales related They're all business related. They're all life related The ultimate goal is success I want people to come here and be inspired and be motivated like hey if this guy's doing this thing Then I can go out and I can do this thing and then you turn off the video and you go And you do whatever that thing is but what I want to do is when I come here and I talk to you guys I want to drop some real knowledge and talk about some stuff that that's been on my mind and And how I'm working through those kinds of things so so what's going on, right is I have never I have never built a full-scale application anything it well It's and so I guess I guess there's it so let's talk about scale So let's talk about scale there. It there are little apps, right? There's so you so you start off with a website and this HTML and CSS and then maybe you want to click a button And you want to move something from here to there? That's you had some JavaScript and boom now you got that functionality. That's an app That is that application application means that there's some sort of logic somewhere that has to happen For for for every action. There is an equal well because it's code and it's magic and we're wizards So it doesn't have to be an equal and opposite reaction like we can click a button here and execute a trade Somewhere on the stock market that'll make us millions of dollars. That's not an equal in an opposite reaction Now at some point time that may become the case, but I think maybe right now it isn't but I think you guys understand what I'm saying but the deal is is that is that every The what defines an app is is is Something happens. We give we give some sort of input and we're giving some sort of output So like the internet in itself is one big application like we go www.google.com And boom something fires across the internet it hits a server that hits another server hits another server and then boom Google pops up and then we're able to search right so we have just used an application now when we land on a web page And all it is is some text The tip the about me and this that in the third and that's it. That's just that's just a web page So I built web pages and I built apps applications small applications, but I haven't built anything All the way front in and back in I've interacted with that I haven't built anything where you go on to a website and you click a button and And it takes you to a registration page and you register and then that information is put in the database And it comes back and an account is created and a profile is created and then boom You got people on your deal doing profiles and stuff. I've used these things I've built portions of them, but I haven't built anything from the ground up So that's what I've been doing over the last week and it's been it's been hard. It's been hard but What's amazing is the amount of stuff that I've been learning while doing it because I understand HTML CSS JavaScript I understand all those things very well. I understand computer computer science web technology I work through one of the largest tech companies in the world. I understand this stuff But it wasn't until I started to dig in and really build this thing that that a lot of stuff started to click And it started to make sense even more sense than it's ever made before to me like There's a bunch of stuff that you running it running to when you when you're learning the JavaScript language programming language that That until you apply it it won't really it won't really make sense like a sink a wait or callbacks or Promises Higher order functions And there's there are all kinds of other recursion all kinds of other things that You read them in a book and The concepts seem clear and you're like hey, I understand this but then when you go to apply me like oh, no, man This doesn't make any sense That like one of the big things for me was callback functions because I had bit I had I learned how to write functions and all these different in in in Fortran in C sharp No in Fortran C plus plus Java Python Java script I learned how I learned how to write how to learn how to make functions, but then you got this function that's a callback function and Unless you understand like the underlying core concepts of a program of a programming language or just how programming languages work in general then that stuff kind of doesn't It doesn't it doesn't It doesn't make sense like make sense like it could until you like get into it and then you're like, oh, all right So a callback is really a callback function is really just a function That feeds another function somewhere in the programming languages library this function Or or function or an anonymous function that I've created and then that and then that that that library does whatever Is it is it does and it returns me back some information? But before returns me back that information it has to execute something else that I say execute So I'm saying I want this information back But before you give it to me I need you to finish this other thing and then with that things done then give me the information back That's that that's the essence of a callback function in here in six minutes It's all but isn't it's not impossible to explain But you won't know how to use them just by me talking and if you're still confused I absolutely understand positively But that's that's what I've been working on and that's that's what's going on. So I've written the app. I've got the whole um I've got the registration The the registration page is done all of the logic for the registration page is done now where I'm having trouble isn't styling it And so I have I know how to use bootstrap But I'm trying this new thing. What is it called? beautify it's like a styling a styling framework for for view and I ran into some issues so I I set this thing up and The elements on the page are not displaying it in the right way So I go and I'm reading through all this documentation because that's what most of coding gives is is is write some code Run into a bug and then spend days trying to fix this bug like I have one bug I I spent nine hours trying to figure this thing out and it was literally just a Forward slash that I had missed in one of the addresses that was causing the whole application to break a day later I ran into an issue where it was a bunch of spelling errors like I was looking for I had all these requirements in my app That I that I wrote and then when I added them as as modules to to other parts of the app the Software was saying it couldn't find this stuff And it was it was all spelling errors and typos So you you spend a lot of time looking for capital letters and lowercase letters and commas and forward slashes and backslashes and all this stuff Also while I was going through this whole process. I began to learn a bunch of stuff about visual studio code That I didn't even know about and it's one of the it's again It's one of those things were like you can hear about it You can read about it But until you have a situation where you can go and apply it it doesn't really make sense And but when you're able when you run into that situation where you can apply the things that you've learned Then it starts to stick in your brain and your brain starts to go. This is important because He or she you or me right? We're we're we're spending so much energy on this thing in the brain It wants to the brain is here to protect us the brain is the brain is here to protect the body and the body's here to protect the brain and When we start spending a lot of time thinking about stuff and really dwelling on stuff and mulling over stuff The brain goes this is important and it starts to store this stuff away in In is in the inside of the memory banks or whatever like I'm no I'm not a neuroscientist I'm a computer scientist so I can tell you about how all this stuff works But I will tell you this from what I've read and what I and what I and what I know from experience Working working on computers and working at one of the largest tech companies in the world is that The brain is not too much different from this computer and we can program them both And so that that's what I've been going through for the last few days now I have an Instagram up the web dev construct if you wanted if you want to follow the progress on Instagram and what I do Is I just drop an image and then I you know I drop a you know a few lines of text about what about About what I'm working on what I'm struggling with so if you guys want to if you guys want to follow on Instagram That is perfect I just thought I should come here and drop you guys some sort of update and let you know what's going on and I'm putting together I'm putting together a monster course a killer course for you the web So I'm gonna have a website and a landing page and all this stuff for you guys to go and sign up and pre-register and all this stuff But not yet because what I want to do is I want to finish this app I want to get this app to a place where I'm comfortable and then I can build out this other stuff The goal was to have the app done in in 40 days Well in 50 days, but I've given myself a deadline. It's a shorter deadline But also what I want to do is is I want to I Want to put I want to start producing content that you guys could use to To get to the next level wherever that may be some of you like you're just starting out You've never coded before and in you're looking for someplace to start some of you Some of you are light years ahead of me and it doesn't even it doesn't even matter But you just you just like to hang out here and you like to watch my content anyway, and that's cool So so I really I really want to I really want to launch. I really want to launch the course But I got some other stuff that I did I'm working on right now, but that it that's been my journey over the last few days As far as coding goes and it's it's been a it's been a lot of it's been a lot of aha moments a lot of debugging a lot of a lot of scratching my head and wondering what the hell is going on because this shit working It doesn't work and right now. So I've like I said, I've got the functionality all built out for the registration page But now I'm going through and I'm trying to add some styling to it And once I once I once I figure out beautify Beautify and how that all works Then then it should be it should be really easy for me to go through and build out the rest of the parts of the application I will tell you this right like I'm not doing this from scratch off the top of my head. I'm following a tutorial from from a guy on Free code camp and what I'll do is I'll I'll actually drop a link Below but I'm documenting every step in the process and I'm going through and I'm I'm really Mastering the concepts that are being used in building this application. So um, so yeah, so that's the update That's what's going on. My goal is to drop at least one of a video like this Every other day and then on Instagram to give give you guys some sort of update Once a day and I'll put the link in the I'll put the link in the notes below But this is the journey team and so this this channel is about is about coding marketing selling it and about the Process that I'm going through and building a startup and launching the course and building a business and all this stuff And then and then I'll bring some other YouTube channels that are gonna focus Hardcore concrete one very specific aspects of each of those things One one aspect is gonna be code. Then we're gonna have the aspect that's marketing And yeah, we're just gonna go from there. We're gonna keep building team. It's been about 12 minutes I don't want to hold you guys up. I know it's rough to watch a 12 minute video I try to be as lively as I can and keep you guys engaged and keep you guys motivated But I understand like 12 minutes a long time for some people But if you made it here to the end, that's fantastic fantastic If you made it here to the end that means you like me and you like what I'm saying and you think that at some point I'm gonna say something valuable that may change your life. So what you want to do what you want to do it's gonna hit the subscribe button and You want to hit the subscribe button and then you want to click the bell so you get notifications And you want to watch all the videos because when I launched that when I launched the the site With the pre-launching all this other stuff like you can go over to the real castadero.com right now And I have like a little basic course there You can follow that talks about idea generation idea creation and come on what ideal to build a product That's like a precursor to everything if you sign up there. You'll get the emails from that but um But yeah, if you if you want the notifications and if you want to know what's new what's coming down the pipe What may benefit you in the future then you definitely want to subscribe you definitely want to click the notification bill and then of course you can always head over to the real castadero.com and And sign up there for for the the free master class that I have and if you go into resources There's a bunch of stuff and resources that you can use that'll that'll get you started in some aspects I'm not exactly sure what I have there now because I don't look at it every day I just whenever I have an idea or a thought or something Or resource I just grab it and I just drop it in this software that I use and you're able to access that Directly from the real castadero website. So anyway guys. Thank you for hanging out with me here It is your biggest fan the real castadero and I will see you next time