Argie Muñoz, age 19 Argie is an alumna of LACC’s SEA Lab program
I grew up in the South Bay of LA. I attended school in Carson, Lomita and Harbor City, and then community college in Torrance for three years. The SEA Lab sounded like a great opportunity to earn some hands-on experience at a nonprofit that is working to both better the costal environment and also increase urban awareness of our environment. My experience at the SEA Lab helped me get accepted to Humboldt State University.
But paying for school is one of the biggest obstacles I’ve had to endure. I do not receive any financial aid, so my parents have had to pay all of my schooling out of pocket. We were able to afford paying for community college while I lived at home. Attending a University might have been too much of a challenge on my family, but LACC helped me pay for it by giving me the change to earn scholarships. If it was not for the two scholarships I earned through LACC, I would either not be able to attend a University or I would have been heavily in debt. I love learning and applying my knowledge. Attending college is not only a path to a career; it is learning how the world and our society works. Working towards my degree in Environmental Science at Humboldt State University in Northern California has inspired me to return to an urban community and expose them to life beyond smog and traffic jams, and that a community is the basis of sustainable society. The LACC is the type of organization I would like to return to after my college career. The LACC gives urban children the opportunity to experience things they may have never done otherwise. With the SEA Lab, I had my first leadership role and event coordination experience, not to mention my first camping trip, kayaking and snorkeling experience. Truly, the leadership and cooperation skills I have learned and further developed at the SEA LAB and LACC have and will continue to help me.