Friday, April 17, 2015

From IVC to Ivy League


Good news this morning from the Department of Memorable Students:

Some will remember Sara Ivette Merced. She graduated with distinction from IVC a couple years ago. She transferred (with a full scholarship) to USC to pursue her bachelor's in Psychology with a minor in forensics and criminality.  She graduates this Spring.

Sara was one of our older students, a single mother who returned to school in her early 40s after raising her two children. She was a distinctive presence in Rebel Girl's Writing 1 class for many reasons. Sara's strong sense of social justice was rooted in her pride as a Puerto Rican-American. Her deep joy in scholarship and her intellectual curiosity were inspiring in the classroom and on the page. 

This morning Sara accepted an offer from Columbia (with a most generous scholarship) to study in a Master's program in clinical psychology with a specialty in psychopathology. Her career goal is to work at-risk urban youth.

Columbia! Scholarship! A master's degree!

Footnote: Sara's two daughters, Lauren Winder and Elise Merced, attended IVC as well. Lauren came to IVC before Sara and transferred to and graduated from Berkeley. She now works as an editor.

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Here's a link to Rebel Girl's write up of Sara's daughter Lauren, during the days of Occupy at Berkeley:
Occupy Cal: a former IVC Student Reports from Sproul

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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wonderful. She should be asked to speak at next year's Foundation Awards Dinner or at commencement.

Anonymous said...

a major in criminality? Hmmmmm....shouldn't it be criminal justice?

Anonymous said...

According to USC:

The interdisciplinary minor in Forensics and Criminality was designed for students interested in the study of law, deviant behavior, or careers in the criminal justice system. In this program, students study psychological and/or ethical issues related to criminal behavior, consider criminality in the context of social class analysis, and learn about the American system of criminal justice. Twenty units are required, four at the lowerdivision and sixteen at the upper-division level.

Students should choose a curriculum for their minor based on their academic interests. Those students interested in white collar crime, for example, might choose POSC 130g, Law, Politics, and Public Policy at the lower division level; REL 375, Conflict and Change and the Ethics of Business; SOCI 350, Deviant Behavior; PHIL 430, Philosophy of Law; and PPD 342, Crime and Public Policy.

Those who are interested in the criminal justice system might choose LAW 200x, Law and Society; REL 341, Ethics in a Technological Society; SOCI 351, Sociology of Juvenile Delinquency and the Juvenile Justice System; POSC 340, Constitutional Law; and POSC 432, The Politics of Local Criminal Justice.

Those interested in individual and social determinants of deviancy might take PSYC 100, Introduction to Psychology; PSYC 360, Abnormal Psychology, or 463, Criminal Behavior, or 465, Introduction to Forensic Psychology; SOCI 360m, Social Inequality: Class, Status, and Power; LAW 402, Psychology and Law; and SOCI 353, Sociology of Crime and of the Criminal Justice System.

https://dornsife.usc.edu/forensics-and-criminality-minor/

Anonymous said...

Great story! It's nice she keeps in touch with you.

Anonymous said...

Forensics and criminality is NOT the same as criminal justice.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful story. I remember Sara.

Anonymous said...

Nice! A great idea for a commencement speaker!

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...