Getting in a car or bus and driving the couple minutes it takes each morning to school is not something new. Kids and teens around the world commute to school daily in order to receive their mandatory general education from grades kindergarten all the way to 12th grade.
When it comes to receiving a higher education from a university, individuals usually choose a college nearby or move into the dorms on campus, making it easier for them to attend those early morning lectures. Well this is not the case for College of the Canyons student Kristina Mendoza.
Kristina Mendoza is currently in her final year of prerequisites for the nursing program at Santa Clarita’s community college, College of the Canyons. Unlike most of the college’s students, Kristina is not a resident of Santa Clarita and actually lives 55 miles away from the campus in Lake Los Angeles California. Instead of having a 10 to 20 minute commute to campus as most students do, it takes Kristina over an hour just one way to reach the school.
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In order to make it to class on time and miss any traffic that may be coming her way, she leaves her house 2-3 hours before her classes even begin. Kristina makes this treacherous commute twice a week every Tuesday and Thursday, making sure her schedule is completely clear those days in preparation for the drive.
When asked about how she deals with the over an hour commute multiple times a week, Kristina explains how, “the drive has definitely gotten easier over the course of the semester but of course it is not something I look forward to, especially with no radio.” The drive has become second nature to Kristina as she now conquers it with ease but, many still wonder why she even makes the drive with there being other colleges much closer to home.
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Lake Los Angeles where Kristina lives is on the outskirts of Palmdale and Landcaster which actually houses their own community college, Antelope Valley College. The commute from Kristina’s house to this community college’s campus is half of the one she makes to COC. It would only take her a little under 30 minutes to make the drive to the campus and driving on the freeway would not even be necessary.
This raises the huge question as to why she decided to attend and be dedicated to the further commute to College of the Canyons rather than her local college of AVC. Kristina explains that there were multiple factors that came into play when she was choosing which two-year college she wanted to attend.
Although AVC offers the same pathway to nursing that Kristina is currently taking at COC, she expresses that, “COC provides some of the best prerequisite classes to the nursing program and has a way better nursing program overall than that of AVC.”
There was one other reason that really hit home to her. “I lived in Santa Clarita most of my life, completing my K-12 years there, so it just made sense if I completed my associates degree there too” Kristina exclaimed while getting emotional over the thought.
Kristina was a part of the high school graduating class of 2020 who unfortunately got their graduation ceremony taken away from them as the COVID-19 pandemic took over the world. Being able to graduate in her childhood town and walk with her former high school classmates meant a lot to Kristina and helped sway her decision in choosing a community college.
Kristina’s story and journey puts a lot of things into perspective when it comes to what people do in order to receive a higher education. Even though Kristina had multiple reasons for choosing College of the Canyons and the commute that comes with it, the main one was the academic quality that she would obtain there. Many people make countless sacrifices each day in order to acquire a higher education and Kristina is no exception to that.
