April is Community College Month! In honor of the month and our students, Austin Community College District (ACC) shines the spotlight on Riverbats—the students who make our community college great.

Community College Month is a time dedicated to celebrating the significant contributions of community colleges to the educational landscape led by the Association of Community College Trustees.

Meet Marisela, a General Studies major at ACC who is transferring to pursue a journalism degree and expects to graduate at the end of the spring semester.

What are your future career goals, and what made you interested in pursuing them?

I want to do a double major in Journalism and Linguistics. I became passionate about journalism thanks to my involvement as a writer and co-editor of ACCENT Student Media, the student news team of ACC. After graduation, I want to explore different aspects of journalism and multimedia, such as writing, documentary, and editorial production. 

What has your experience at ACC been like?

My experience at ACC has been incredible. I have grown immensely as a person and student in these two years. My involvement as an honors student, student officer, and student employee has given me so many resources and opportunities to explore who I am and what motivates me.

How do you empower yourself to pursue your goals with confidence?

I think what helps me a lot is to have compassion for myself. I have tried all the ways to gain confidence (“fake it until you make it,” reaffirmations, etc.), but what actually makes a difference for me is having empathy for myself as much as I do for others. That is what lets me approach new goals with curiosity and confidence and not from unrealistic perfectionism and harmful exigence. 

What advice would you give other students to empower themselves to do the same?

To have a support system, be it friends, family, or mentors. Surrounding yourself with people who have the same values as you will inspire you to exceed yourself while also preserving your identity and confidence. There will always be people who will tell you ‘no’ and make you doubt your ideas and capabilities. But when you have people who support you, you have a space to constantly reconnect with what matters and find the best version of yourself. 

What is an accomplishment you are proud of?

I am proud I stayed at ACC for another year, and that I am graduating. For different reasons, I thought about taking a gap year right after I finished last spring semester. But I am happy I didn’t let fears take control and make a decision I would have regretted. I found a way to appreciate a new academic journey and keep trying, this time with compassion and courage alongside people I care about.

Tags: Accent, Community College Month, Journalism, Linguistics, Student Spotlight