In the final story of our 5-part series, we look at ways to support the next generation of civic leaders in Santa Barbara County.
Stephanie Robb teaches leadership courses to encourage civic participation among college students. She is the director of student activities and outreach at Allan Hancock Community College in Santa Maria.
“We offer a leadership 111 and 112 course. They’re each a semester long and our student government is run through that class,” Robb said.
The courses are open to all students and Robb regularly invites guest speakers from the local community. She said she is inspired by her students.
“I see nothing but hope, and amazing leaders like Samantha. These students want to learn more and get involved and have their voices be heard,” Robb said.
You might remember Samantha Martinez from our last episode on student voting. She is the Associated Student Body President at Hancock College, where she's a political science major.
Martinez, who goes by Sam, is a Santa Maria local. She attended Orcutt Academy High School where she was active in student government before enrolling at Hancock College.
“I happened to stumble upon the leadership 111 class and decided to sign up, and it has really completely changed my entire community college experience,” she said.
Now, as student body president, she coordinates voter registration drives and Get Out the Vote activities. She sits on committees with Hancock faculty and staff, and also attends leadership conferences.
Martinez said she is motivated each day by the trust of the other students who elected her.
“I see the potential in our up-and-coming generation, we have so many unique qualities, things like compassion, things like individuality, and so if we learn how to encourage each other to utilize these passions, it could be so powerful and it could be used for so much good,” Martinez said.
She said it’s a challenge for community college students to stay informed and find time for civic engagement. They live off-campus and, in addition to coursework, she said they have jobs and other family responsibilities.
Martinez said most people her age, herself included, rely on social media for their news, which she thinks is okay, if they seek out credible sources.
“And so the important thing is that we know how to mindfully use this tool. It gives us so much beneficial information, if we just know how to clean out our feed,” she said.
Martinez is relaxed and confident as we sit and talk, but she said it took her a while to settle in as a college student.
“Students like me who are first-generation, our parents did not go to college and receive a college education, and it’s kind of overlooked that a lot of us don’t even know the first thing about the college system,” she said.
At Hancock College 42% of students are the first in their family to attend college.
Martinez said more mentors for first generation students would help them to engage and be more comfortable on campus. She said the ideal mentor is a recent graduate who was also a first-generation student.
“If they would be willing to share any of that perspective and experience, it would really benefit these incoming first gen students,” she said.
One local non-profit working to make the transition to college easier for students on the Central Coast, is Future Leaders of America or FLA.
Daniel Gonzalez, director of advocacy for FLA, said the program focuses on Latinx youth in high school with the goal of helping them move on to a university. He said students gain important leadership skills through workshops and training programs.
“We take students for a 6-week summer camp, and there we do various workshops around public speaking, leadership development, teamwork, and we do a lot of cultural activities,” Gonzalez said.
As we wrap up our series Polling the People, it’s clear that creating more avenues for civic participation, especially in underrepresented communities, will help to engage people in the voting process.
Twenty-year-old Samantha Martinez said it’s time for her generation to bring their voices and their votes to the table.
Polling the People is made possible by a grant from the Sunflower Foundation. Benjamin Purper contributed to this story.
