Knowledge lights the way
Perhaps you missed his office because it was obscured behind a brick wall with a sign reading Platform 9 3/4. Maybe you weren’t looking for a train station leading to a magical institution, but the entrance to English instructor Mickey Harrison’s office bears an uncanny resemblance to the place.
Harrison has only been a full-time instructor at Pierce College for...
Simon says
There is a moment at the start of Greg Simon’s physical anthropology class when a spark goes off, as he finishes reminding students of deadlines and begins his lecture.
As the term “natural selection” leaves Simon’s lips, his eyes widen and the corners at his mouth turn up in excitement, while he begins to discuss his passion.
The Pierce College...
Helping students transfer one step at a time
Wearing a warm smile framed by primly-styled sandy blonde hair, Norine Fine, 61, waits patiently behind the reception desk for early appointments.
Fine is a general counselor in the Transfer Center at Pierce College. Her job is not only to help students find their majors, but also to assist and advise them if they are considering alternative options.
“I connect students...
Bob Lofrano
Story By: Lynn Levitt
Classes are in session at Pierce College and inside the structure of the South Gym, the sound of footsteps echo in the hallway. A tall, rail thin, but physically fit man heads out of his office to a shaded area near the soccer field. You wonder why he is headed for shade, as his skin is...
His infectious love for theater
A man stands with a group of students, informing them safety precautions about using a table saw in the workshop. His salt and pepper hair reflects some of the light overhead. His off-white facial hair scatter across his face, down to the underside of his chin as he speaks about what the table saw can do when it comes to making interesting...
Q&A with Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins
Photos & Interview by Lynn Levitt
The late 1990s was a special time for drummer Taylor Hawkins. He had landed a gig with Canadian singer Alanis Morissette. And soon after, Dave Grohl, the former drummer of Nirvana and founder of the Foo Fighters, asked Hawkins if he knew anyone who could fill his recently vacant drummer spot in his new...
David Ayala
Working in the Pierce College bookstore warehouse since 2007, David Ayala unpacks the shipment of boxes he receives and separates the materials into different sections for the sales people to pick up and put on display.
“I used to be a equipment manager and locker room attendant for West L.A. College,” Ayala says.
Ayala is a father of two boys...
Mitra Hoshiar
Sunset at the Malibu Beach shore is a dance of color and light. Birds fly in coordination with ocean waves like a window to paradise. The wind conquers the weak waves of late winter and the sun sinks to the ocean. Playful children run away from their parents while trying to reach out to the waves. Seagulls fly freely,...
Candy Van Can
Buried behind a mountain of papers and bookstore receipts, a petite woman types furiously on her smartphone and tries to get some work done despite the constant interruptions of students and staff members who come to visit her. What she lacks in size she makes up for with a big personality and an even bigger smile.
Working for the Student...
Julia M. Cohen
Written by: Connor Cook
The 5-foot-tall woman with dark hair contrasted by light green eyes scavenges around her small office, picking up papers and folders as she prepares for a meeting at Pierce College.
Soft-spoken and reserved, Julia M. Cohen attended University of California, Los Angeles several decades ago, and is now a psychology professor at Pierce.
Her toughest challenge was discovering...