A Leadership Academy Workshop is available to San Diego City College students every week through the office of Student Affairs. 

A total of nine weekly workshops are being held in room M201 every Tuesday from 11 a.m. to noon.

“The hope is that students walk away a little bit more empowered in their vision for their journey,” said Alexis Hithe, educational technician in Student Affairs and dean’s assistant.

Hithe looks to bring attention to the many resources available on campus that some students may not partake in due to stigmas and time conflicts. 

“This workshop breaks things down to the root,” Hithe said. “(It) tries to get students to really get to the part of themself that can connect with those resources.” 

Topics discussed through these workshops are more of the big picture side of things, rather than just the nuts and bolts. 

“Last week we talked about mentorship,” she said. “Rather than spend the workshop talking about all the different mentorship opportunities available, we expanded it and talked about the things that block you from reaching out to to seek a mentor.”

Hithe mentions that she brings an agenda with different leading questions and topics every week to these workshops, but what students bring to it is worth much more.

The No. 1 goal, however, is to encourage students to reach out to the resources offered on campus. Hithe wants students to drop the stigma of feeling as if they are a burden when reaching out for help.

“One thing we all settled on was that students on this campus need a space to just talk about their own personal needs and feelings,” Hithe said. 

Working toward getting resources to students is something Hithe is passionate about since she benefited from similar resources when she was a student. 

“It’s really important to me to connect on an equal level with students and give them something that I was given that helped me,” she said. “If it wasn’t for the spaces that let me just go and express my thoughts and feelings, and get to parts of myself that I didn’t know were there or that didn’t have a full chance to bloom, then I wouldn’t be here now.” 

Another goal Student Affairs strives to achieve is to make sure that students understand the worth and the value of the program.

“Sometimes they can feel so overwhelming to be in school,” she said. “You have those moments where you’re like ‘Why am I doing this?’And this is the space that you know you can take to remind yourself, ‘This is why I’m doing this because it’s about me. So I’m going to take an hour out of my Tuesday at 11 and focus on me.’

“It’s not about the door being opened — it’s about people feeling empowered to go through it.”