Prospective students from all over San Diego County toured San Diego City College’s campus for the annual Open House on April 20.

Various campus organizations and departments welcomed visitors and presented their best work to potential future City students.

“It seems like it’s a good turnout of students that have come through,” said Alisia Rincon, a Financial Aid Supervisor at City. 

According to Rincon, over 900 students were expected to participate in the Open House. 

For attendees, the Open House served as an opportunity to learn about City College and help them make a decision about where they’ll continue their education journey. 

“It was really nice,” said Jubencio Rivas, San Diego High School student. “I feel like I’m more comfortable now. We’re familiar with the place and I feel like I would want to come here now.”

With the proximity of City College to San Diego High School, familiarity is a factor that might influence Rivas’ decision in the future. 

“The fact that it’s really close,” Rivas said. “I feel like it’s a little better. I’m not just a fish out of water.”

The affordability of City was also something that caught the Rivas’ attention.

“The Promise Program sounds really interesting,” Rivas said. “Something that I might want to take advantage of.”

High school students visiting the City College campus lined up at the cosmetology tent, waiting to get free manicures and chat with the nail techs-in-training. 

The cosmetology tent was a popular stop for prospective students visiting City College for Open House.

The cosmetology students handed out flyers and business cards and plugged their Instagrams to promote their work.

Edgar Henderson III, cosmetology professor, said he spoke with multiple prospective students and encouraged them to come to the orientations that they offer every Monday. 

Henderson explained that for many students, the City College cosmetology program is a dual enrollment and income opportunity. 

“This is a way to finance their dream,” Henderson said.

Cosmetology department courses have been limited to just nail and esthetician courses since the pandemic, but a recent curriculum change sees the cosmetology program returning this fall and a projected return of the barber conversion program, according to Henderson.

Later in the day, it was announced that psychology majors at City College won the president’s award for their presentation about dismantling psychological myths at the 19th Annual Student Project and Research Symposium.

In order to give potential students a look at the psychology major at City, Dylan Wikel, Angelica Tharpe and Nicholas Lazaris were among the students presenting statistics and facts about psychological myths. 

According to Tharpe, psychological myths and misconceptions are claims that have adapted into a person’s mindset about a certain idea without support from high-quality research.

“When people believe them, they tend to form a false narrative,” Tharpe said.

One myth presented was that as humans we only use 10% of our brains. According to Tharpe, that line of thinking may discourage people from reaching their learning potential. 

Looking at different learning styles from a psychological standpoint, according to Lazaris, is important for students transitioning from high school to college.

“If students are coming out of high school and looking to come to City College, they might think they know their learning style, but in reality we all learn from composites of different things,” Lazaris said.