{"id":49892,"date":"2019-04-16T14:54:17","date_gmt":"2019-04-16T20:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/krtnradio.com\/?p=49892"},"modified":"2019-04-16T15:01:54","modified_gmt":"2019-04-16T21:01:54","slug":"trinidad-state-student-represents-colorado-college-students-in-washington-d-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/krtnradio.com\/wp\/2019\/04\/16\/trinidad-state-student-represents-colorado-college-students-in-washington-d-c\/","title":{"rendered":"Trinidad State Student Represents Colorado College Students in Washington D.C."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Volleyball brought Ruiz to Trinidad State \u2013 volleyball photos by Matt Young<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
\nContact: Greg Boyce
\ngreg.boyce@trinidadstate.edu
\n719 846-5530<\/p>\n

April 16, 2019<\/p>\n

Written by Margaret Sanderson<\/p>\n

(TRINIDAD, COLORADO) As a new student at Trinidad State, Destiny Calderon-Ruiz jumped right in to student government. \u201cI love to be involved. It\u2019s such a small campus and things are hands-on, up close and personal. I wanted to be an advocate for students.\u201d In high school the student government was largely responsible for coordinating extracurricular events. \u201cIt\u2019s more formal here and I like it a lot,\u201d said Ruiz.
\nThe opportunity to play volleyball brought Calderon-Ruiz from Pueblo to Trinidad State. She appreciates her teammates who push her further than she thinks she can go. \u201cAnd I\u2019m in such good shape because of it!\u201d she said as she laughed. Last fall, her schedule was so packed as a full-time student in sports, she was sworn in to her state office in a car while returning from a volleyball trip to Kansas. Connected on her cell phone via video chat, she officially became a SSAC (State Student Advisory Council) member.<\/p>\n

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Destiny Calderon during a volleyball game vs. Northeastern JC in Sept. 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thirteen Colorado community colleges serve over 137,000 students on 39 campuses. The student body from each campus with an established student government elects one student to serve on the SSAC. Calderon-Ruiz credits Trinidad State\u2019s Ashley Cogburn for her involvement with student government. \u201cI didn\u2019t know what I was getting myself in to,\u201d said Ruiz, 19, \u201cbut it turned out really good and I\u2019m glad.\u201d Ruiz was working as Cogburn\u2019s work study student last fall semester (her first semester at Trinidad State) when Cogburn suggested she consider running for a position on the state board. \u201cStudents like Destiny that come in and are finding their way and then begin to blossom, to find their voice, are the reason I love my job,\u201d said Cogburn who is the Assistant Director of Student Life and Engagement at TSJC. Although Ruiz was born in the United States, her parents came here from Mexico. Bilingual, she is a first-generation (first in her family to go to college) student, who sometimes translates for volleyball team members. \u201cShe knows the value of hard work and communication,\u201d said Cogburn, \u201cShe\u2019s in this for the long haul. I think she\u2019s found her niche. She has certainly passed my expectations as a first-year student leader.\u201d Ruiz\u2019 schedule was so full her first semester she had to squeeze her work study duties in after 8 p.m. sometimes working as late as midnight.
\nRuiz said the SSAC members meet once a month to focus on what community college students want or need the most. The meetings are held in Denver, a three-hour drive from the Trinidad campus. She attends personally when she can. Otherwise, she connects by video chat. Recently Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed the council\u2019s bill to change SSAC bylaws to allow out-of-state students to serve on the SSAC board. Previously, only Colorado residents could serve. Ruiz welcomes the perspectives and ideas out-of-state students can now offer. This effort has given her a clearer understanding of crafting and presenting a bill.<\/p>\n

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A visit with Scott Tipton outside his office in Washington D.C.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis has been amazing.\u201d said Ruiz. \u201cLearning about the legal process and networking with students from other community colleges \u2013 single mothers, fathers, married and coming back, and GED seekers. More young students are coming too. It\u2019s fun to hear from other students. One community college has a flight school. We have a gunsmith program. I prefer to do my associate\u2019s in a community college and then transfer because there\u2019s such diversity. I\u2019ve learned a lot about other people and their needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Destiny Calderon at Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While in Washington D.C. March 8 \u2013 12, Ruiz had the opportunity to speak to Colorado Congressman Scott Tipton. \u201cHe was the opposite of what I expected,\u201d said Ruiz. \u201cHe was humble, relaxed and casual. He supports the NRA (National Rifle Association) and has been to the Trinidad campus to see the gunsmith program.\u201d While in Washington D.C. and visiting the Colorado delegation, the students focused on the time it takes to pay back college loans. Currently, payments must begin six months following graduation. They would like to see it extended to one year to give the students more time to get established in a job before they are required to start making payments.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so interesting to see how other schools work and their dynamics. It was just such a great experience,\u201d said Ruiz about her trip to Washington D.C.
\nRuiz is looking forward to team-building exercises at Colorado Northwestern Community College in Rangely, Colorado, on May 30 \u2013 June 2 where SSAC members will team-work through a ropes\u2019 course to build trust and help them prepare for next year.
\nTo learn more about student government opportunities at Trinidad State, call Ashley Cogburn at 719-589-7003.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Greg Boyce greg.boyce@trinidadstate.edu 719 846-5530 April 16, 2019 Written by Margaret Sanderson (TRINIDAD, COLORADO) As a new student at Trinidad State, Destiny Calderon-Ruiz jumped right in to student government. \u201cI love to be involved. It\u2019s such a small campus and things are hands-on, up close and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":21705,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,46,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-schools","category-sports","entry","rows-excerpt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/krtnradio.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/krtnradio.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/krtnradio.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krtnradio.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krtnradio.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49892"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/krtnradio.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49900,"href":"https:\/\/krtnradio.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49892\/revisions\/49900"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krtnradio.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/krtnradio.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krtnradio.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krtnradio.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}