As a first year student at Long Beach City College I was generally curious about this new mysterious environment. Walking around the school made me notice multiple things: one, I have no idea where anything is and two, the school seems a little behind for the times.
The printer around the Assessment & Orientation office was broken, the desk in the library by classroom L167 are damaged and written on and the buildings look old.
If you were to compare LBCC to other community colleges you’ll see the clear difference in protection, technology, and design.
The school’s campus is huge, it’s amazing and there’s many students. From someone who came from a somewhat small high school I completely understand being behind on improvements due to budget cuts. And the improvements are not just about aesthetics, protection on campus could be improved.
LBCC being a campus with more or less 22,000 students should have better security. When I walk around there are not a sufficient amount of blue pillars that have emergency buttons throughout the campus. For a college with around 22,000 students, security should be improved.
When considering the technological difficulties the school is not always efficient on fixing the issues. Around the campus almost all the printers are somewhat out of date as well. There are some areas that like the Assessment & Orientation center that have broken machines. For example, if you were to go to the library you will encounter issues trying to pay for your pages with a card. To find a printer that works with your card will be a miracle.
Protection, and technology are one thing but not being able to find your way around the school can make a new student feel helpless. The maps around the school is another area that might need improvement as well. If you look at the maps you will see words and symbols that can easily leave a new student overwhelmed and lost. This can easily be fixed if the school suggested on the map to look at the school website where a digital version of the map can be found. Having some maps to take as well would help students find their way to their destination.
Although there is a legend explaining the symbols it is still not an easy task while you are in a rush. Trying to remember what you just saw on the map and then walking away from it will stress you out and probably make you late.
The improvements and repairs that the school needs to make are not going to be instant or light on the school’s budget but I believe over time the school can make an effort to help students feel more at ease and not lost. Until then let’s just be patient.