WEBVTT
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(slow music)
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I've been fortunate to be the
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president of a community college.
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A lot of the students we serve
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are first generation college students, they're often
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low-income, they're often academically under prepared
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and they're almost always financially under-resourced.
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So they just don't have the money for some of the things
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that many of our students take for granted
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like internet at home and computers.
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(slow music)
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College isn't open 24 hours a day
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and there's a lot of things that, especially at a community
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college and on the commuter campus,
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students are coming here just to go to class.
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So it's great that our computer labs are open
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and that they're state-of-the-art and that
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they're available to the lifestyles that some students have,
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it doesn't work for them 'cause they've gotta go work at
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this job from 11 to six and then the computer lab may be
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closed and now what do they do?
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How do they get their work done?
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(slow music)
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Being here, at the community college,
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it's already affecting me and affected my grades
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in the fact that I don't have internet at home.
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Because I have to stay here late
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and I have to borrow people's internet,
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I have to have a flash drive on me at all times,
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say I lose it at home or I forget it at home,
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I have to, you know, work around that,
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so it's always something and it's always
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something personal that's affecting it.
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So it's kinda like a back and forth thing for me
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trying to get to the internet.
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So, it can be a very big barrier for my life.
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Having to not have to go to the library to get the
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internet all the time, was a great accomplishment.
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And being able to have it in the house.
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Working on research papers is very difficult
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if you have to go to the library a lot.
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If I have to spend four and five hours here,
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at the school, in the library,
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it kinda impedes on my home life with my kids.
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I'd like to be at home with them
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and so being able to be on the home computer
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and researching on the internet is really great.
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(slow music)
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The internet is an essential tool to the learning process
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and the success, academic success, of a student at a
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community college or a university today.
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I couldn't imagine going to school, today,
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without having access to the internet.
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(slow music)
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We talk a lot about the importance
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of higher education access.
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We want people to be able to go to a community college,
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but we need to care just as much
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about higher education success.
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Are students able to earn a credential?
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To do that, many of them need more support services
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and one of those critical supports is internet at home.
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Workforce is key to us, and our students,
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when they graduate from our colleges, get well paying jobs
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and a fruitful career that's rewarding to them.
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Our data are showing that our students who graduate
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earn more, about half of our students need federal financial
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aid in order to obtain their education,
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and by providing the internet at a low cost to them
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as well as a low-cost computer to them,
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this really helps them achieve their dream
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of being able to get a college degree.
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I'm really excited about the Internet Essentials Program
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and I recommend it to every student
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and I'm really thrilled that it's
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happening on Community College Campus.
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I mean it's really gonna change, you know, education and
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it's gonna change the experience for students everywhere.
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(slow music)