“Inconsistent” is about the best word I could use to describe Odessa College, between some of the best and some of the absolute worst teachers I’ve had in my entire life and administration being sloppy at best.
In two years of being a full-time college student, I had teachers who genuinely set me up for success in my life and teachers who did the bare minimum of showing up to class to leave students to teach among themselves. Texts would be constantly sent to my mom instead of to me, despite asking multiple times to be contacted directly. As it turns out, I was considered a dual credit student for years in the system, when I had been attending college full time, with a full-time course load the entire time; which I didn’t learn about until a week before graduation.
You can get a good education at Odessa College, but don’t expect the institution to care about you as a student. It’s hard to be proud of being an Odessa College student when, even while graduating Summa Cum Laude, the school didn’t even care to put me in the graduation booklet when I registered for graduation at the earliest time I was told to.
I have to give a whole-hearted Thank You to Ms. Cecilia Bacon, Dr. Ian Lee, Ashok Karra, Timothy Clark, and others. Much of the faculty does genuinely care about their students and the work that they do, and it shows. But that effort goes to waste when log-in systems are changed (and break) in the middle of the semester and when buildings like Wilkerson Hall could fill classrooms with the number of roaches I’ve seen laying dead on the floors.
I wouldn’t say there’s any one big nail in the coffin against the school as a whole, and I really did have a mostly good time as a student at OC, but it does not feel like students are generally prioritized at Odessa College. I’m sure others have had a better experience than I have, but there’s just no guarantee from one term to the next that you’ll have a great or a miserable experience. That inconsistency makes Odessa College a difficult school to recommend attending.
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The sun had barely risen when the phone rang, jolting us awake. It was our daughter, her voice trembling with a mix of anger and despair. "Mom, Dad, they lied to us," she said, her words heavy with the weight of betrayal. We listened in stunned silence as she recounted the events of the past year, a year filled with hard work, late nights, and the unwavering belief that she was on the path to a promising career.
Odessa College had promised her and her classmates that their program would soon be accredited. They assured them that by the time they completed their courses, everything would be in place. But now, after a year of dedication and sacrifice, they were told the truth: the accreditation was never going to happen.
Mr. Charlies Quintela, the program director, had been the face of these promises. He had stood before the students, confidently assuring them that their future was secure. But now, when confronted with the truth, he deflected responsibility. "We told you the program was seeking accreditation” he told them as if they would have willingly invested their time and money into a program with no future.
Our daughter was devastated. She had completed all the necessary coursework and was ready to take the state mandated test for teaching but without the accreditation, she wasn't eligible. Her dreams were shattered, and there was no clear path forward.
As parents, we felt a mix of emotions. Anger at the college for their deceit, frustration at Mr. Quintela for his lack of accountability, and deep sorrow for our daughter and her classmates. They had been led astray, their hopes raised only to be cruelly dashed.
We reached out to the college, demanding answers and a resolution. But so far, there has been no valid response from the school or Mr. Quintela. The students were left in limbo, their hard work seemingly for nothing.
We tried to console our daughter, reminding her of her strength and resilience. We assured her that this setback, while painful, would not define her. Together, we would find a way forward, even if the path was uncertain.
In the silence the betrayal lingers, a bitter reminder of the promises broken and the trust shattered. And as we stand by our daughter's side, we will fight for justice, we will stand on the side of truth, not just for her, but for all the students who have been wronged and the ones who are currently being wronged in the same program and unaware of its dead end.
We will hold this public institution accountable if they offer no fair solution to these students, what is the price for a year of one's life lost to the complete incompetence of a college program director and the inability for their employer to hold them accountable…
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