Welcome to my web site on Pima Community College
Introduction
My name is Brandon Green and I have been attending Pima for a little
over
one and a half years now. I graduated from PPEP Tech High School which
is a charter school. I tried attending Sabino High School, which
is a public school, as a freshman, but I found too many distractions
between
all the sports and other fun things to do like ditching to be very
interested
in any sort of schooling. After flushing that year down the drain I
decided
to try attending a charter school. I really like how some of the
charter
schools run. It is a lot like college. You go in, and do your work. If
you have a question you go find the teacher that can help you. It is
nothing
like an ordinary public school class where you go in and listen to a
teacher
drone on about the lesson. Then there is the fact that the teachers are
free to help you most any time at charter schools. In a public school
the
whole class may have the same question, but often the teacher only
helps
one or two students on that particular problem and then moves on. It is
like they expect the rest of the students to get in contact with the
one
or two students they did help, and figure it out. I also like the fact
that most charter schools do not have sports programs allowing the
school
to use more funds on educational purposes. Is that not what school is
supposed
to be about anyway? I did good at the PPEP Tech High School I attended,
and now I am a college student at Pima.
Attending Pima Community College
I began attending Pima's East Campus in the fall of 2001. I like how
the
East Campus is layed out and many of the programs they offer. The East
Campus has a lot of nice landscaping that helps lend a touch of nature
to all the concrete walkways and the buildings. The campus itself is
not
hard to negotiate, but some things are a little difficult to find.
Parking
is not bad unless you consider three hundred feet or so too strenuous a
distance to walk. East Campus is also home to a great tutoring center
where
you can go and get tutoring on difficult subjects. Unfortunately the
tutoring
center does not cover all the classes, but if math is troublesome for
you
then you are in luck. The Clements Center, a little ways from the main
campus, is a great sports oriented facility. So if laborous physical
activity
and endorphins are your thing you may want to check it out.
A fairly new edition to Pima is the football program
held on the East Campus headed by Jeff Scurran and Doug Holland both
formerly
from Sabino High School. I remember Doug busting me for cigarettes my
freshman
year at Sabino. The football program is a matter of some controversy
though.
The new program had to recieve funds from somewhere to get started and
Pima's school budget took up the cost. I wonder if that is why the
tuition
was raised? Many people, particularly the older more money concious
individuals,
do not approve of the new football program. Mostly for two reasons.
One,
the program does not bring in an income for the school system like some
univesities programs. Two, there have been a lot of complaints about
the
football team trashing the parking lots from their parties. This was
not
a large problem until the football program arrived.
Jeff Scurran is also an individual of some
controversy.
He did an excellent job leading some of Sabino's football teams to
State
Championships and very close to it many times. Like a good football
coach
he kept an eye out for talent both on the field and in the weight
training
room. Although it seems to me most of his concern lay in the talent he
saw that might make a good football player. That is the difference
between
playing Pop Warner football and high school football. The competition
begins.
I had a different coach than Scurran as a freshman, but Scurran did
teach
weight training which was mandatory for students like me involved in
the
football program. I played Pop Warner before playing football for
Sabino
and I was a lot bigger than most of the kids then. When I got to Sabino
most of the kids were as big or bigger than me. I weighed 165 lbs.
before
I started weight training at Sabino. By the end of the year I weighed
195
lbs. and was bigger than many of the other students. However, there
were
people considerably bigger and stronger than I was even at the end of
the
year. I also know for a fact I do best at defense, but I think the
coach
may have had other ideas at the time. The coach decides where he thinks
you will do best. In general I did not want it bad enough. It probably
did not help my situation any to have failed the majority of my classes
either. They simply did not seem as fun as playing football, building
muscles,
or ditching and hanging out with friends.
In general I am rather fond of Pima's East Campus,
and have a good time going there. I met a lot of interesting people
both
students and teachers, and I have learned some valuable things from
those
encounters. I have about one year left at Pima to get my degree, and
then
I will be moving up the University of Arizona.
Some of My Artwork from Pima
The portrait below is an example of some of my best
work. I will sell hand drawn portraits of people alone or in groups. If
you would like a portrait please click on
this link for more information. I also have other examples of my
work
featured on this
link.