Your Vote is Important

Our nation’s voting season is upon us. Daily we are hearing about our presidential candidates through television, news, radio, and social media. Individuals are already starting to form their opinion on who they will vote for in November.

According to “Young-Adult Voting: An Analysis of Presidential Elections,” it’s typical that in American elections, “young people have stood out for their consistently low levels of electoral participation.”

The importance of us voting is critical. By not casting a vote, we are not helping ourselves, and doing a disservice to our own country. If we want to see change or have our rights remain the same, we need to go out and vote. Regardless of whether or not, you agree with the candidates 100 percent, we need to find our common ground this November during the election. We spend too much emphasis on not voting rather than understanding and getting to know our candidates in one form or another.

We need to not only look at our presidential candidates, we also need to consider our local candidates to be tomorrow’s leaders. I had the opportunity to meet and speak with Javier Salazar. He is the current Democratic candidate running for Sheriff in Bexar County.

I got to know that he is a 23-year veteran San Antonio Police Officer. When I asked what qualities he can bring to the county and the job, Salazar replies that he wants to build a foundation in Bexar County.

“What I would like is to have a relationship between law enforcement and the residents.”

It is this type of understanding, we as students, need to be doing more. I listened to what he had to say for an hour, and it gave me an understanding of what issues are happening around our beautiful city.

If we can just take the time and pay attention to the upcoming presidential debate this evening and listen to what our local candidates have to say, then we can certainly be a little bit more educated on issues, rather than solely just plain saying no to voting.

If you are not registered to vote, you have the opportunity to get registered tomorrow at the Cypress patio from 9 am to 2:30 pm.

By NVC Student Jay Jimenez

Ready, Set…Graduate

Hello NVC students, hope everyone is doing well and attending classes regularly. I just wanted to give reminders to our students who will be graduating this semester. This is definitely an exciting time and what better way to end the year than with your associate’s degree.

A few tidbits to keep in mind: 1. An advisor is necessary for anyone who needs to fill out a graduation application. 2. The deadline for this application is October 31^st. (So that should be an easy date for you all to remember so you can go ahead and schedule your appointment). 3. The application is free!

This is your time to start looking into which college you would like to transfer and start the application process. The cool thing about NVC is that there will be an event called “Gradtober Fest” on Wednesday and Thursday October the 19^th and 20^th. This event will give you the opportunity to apply for graduation and meet with transfer schools. It is definitely a win-win solution to have questions answered and avoid long lines. You want to make sure your transfer will have a smooth transition especially before your Christmas break.

Secondly, being it is mid-year for financial aid. Give yourself extra time to make sure you make any updates or corrections to your financial aid file at their website: fafsa.gov. This is imperative to ensure funds will be ready for you to register come this November if you plan to attend the spring semester.

Lastly, if you do belong to an organization like Phi Theta Kappa, The National Society of Leadership and Success or Psi Beta you will need to do your own research if there are any fees applicable to wear their cords at the graduation ceremony. Each club has their own set of guidelines if you plan to walk in the graduation ceremony in spring 2017 with their respective distinguish cords.

Follow these quick, simple steps above and you will be closer in attending your school of your choice with your associates degree in hand. Congratulations to our future leaders from NVC!

By NVC Jay Jimenez

Vista Runners Have Great Season Opener

The Northwest Vista Cross Country team had a great showing at their season opener hosted by Our Lady of the Lake University.

The race took place at Windcrest Golf Club with the boys running an 8K and the girls running a 5K. There was some good competition as Texas A&M Kingsville, Trinity, Incarnate Word and Sul Ross were all an attendance, to name a few schools.

The Vista men’s team placed 6^th place beating out Schreiner University and Sul Ross!

Finishing first for the Wildcats was Freshman Nelson Vila, coming in 35^th with a time of 31:32. Javier Ramirez was 43^rd with a time of 33:00, Vincent Del Pino wasn’t far behind in 47^th with a time 33:24, Adam Soto was 49^th with a time of 35:54, Aaron Beattie was 50^th with a time of 36:16, and Micah Florence was 52^nd with a time of 37:25.

The girls didn’t have a team but still had great finishes. Karla Presa finished in 28^th with a time of 21:53 and Yaritza Sandoval was 45^th with a time of 26:50.

The student athletes have been training really hard for the last three weeks and can’t wait to see improvement at their next race on October 1^st in Uvalde.