As commencement approaches, San Diego City College decided to hold its first Grad Fest to honor the upcoming transfers and graduates on May 11-12.
The Gorton Quad was lively on Monday with students enjoying food, music and cap decorating from 1-2:45 p.m.
Off to the side on a bench, a mother and daughter sat sharing the burrito and cake handed out at the event.
Estephany Martinez, a social work major, will be transferring to California State University San Marcos in fall 2026.
She attended the event with her daughter to celebrate that achievement, but her journey to get there wasn’t so simple.
In her household, Martinez was expected to go straight to work after high school, but she had other plans for herself, she explained.
On top of that, she had a daughter when she was a teenager, which she believed came with a harmful connotation.
“I was also a teen parent with my daughter, so I was told that my life was over and that I couldn’t do much,” Martinez said. “So then I decided to prove (to) everybody that I’m capable of doing it.”
Many City College organizations, like the Promise Program, the Asian American and Pacific Islander Connection Center and the Transfer Center, attended the event, offering activities for the students.Free cap decorating was promoted leading up to the event, and decorations were provided by Student Affairs and the Promise Program. The AAPI Connections Center also offered free lei-making for all students to wear to commencement.
The Transfer Center handed out graduation cords and had a large map of California for students to show off the colleges they committed to.
Although the celebration wasn’t a big, flashy event, people were having fun, and Erin Charlens, Transfer Center Coordinator, believes that the event allows everyone to be welcomed.
Charlens appreciates all of the other graduation celebrations happening throughout the month for specific groups like the Chicano community or for Extended Opportunity Programs & Services students. But, compared to those, she expresses excitement that all of the whole community can come together for this.
“I think a lot of times the individual celebrations celebrate something very specific, something unique (and) I totally love that we’re still having those that we’re able to honor that group,” Charlens said. “(But) I just think there’s so much synergy and excitement when we all come together collectively.”
After the event, a graduation rehearsal was held in the Cafeteria from 3-4 p.m. to provide students with all the details for commencement. That included parking, as it takes place in Balboa Park, which charges for parking now.
Although City College is still working out details with Balboa Park, City College President Ricky Shabazz confirmed there is a possibility that graduates and their families may have to pay.
“We (want to) give (students) something that you just print out and put on your dashboard so that we can so that they’ll know that you are a graduate and won’t have to pay for parking during that time,” said Marciano Perez, Vice President of Student Services.
More details will be made clear on the official City College graduation FAQ website, which City Times was unable to access due to the two-week-long internet outage.
Another detail that was brought up was on how many guests graduates could invite to the ceremony, which was confirmed to have no limit on the number.
Shabazz clarified that it will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
Commencement will be taking place on Thursday, May 21, at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park from 5-7 p.m.
There will be music, live performances and graduates walking the stage soon to start a new chapter in their lives.
This story was edited by Tresean Osgood and Rosemary Archer.
