Students of De Anza
Students at De Anza College come from every walk of life and every corner of the globe. Every one has a story to tell — and in turn, their experiences become a part of the De Anza story. Here, we capture just a few of them to illustrate the vibrancy, diversity and breadth of perspectives at De Anza and the opportunities available to our students.
Fall 2026
Catherine Crawford
Village Ambassador, Social Sciences and Humanities
Second year, political science major
When I started at De Anza, I knew no one — all my friends were going to different colleges. So I attended the De Anza Bridge program, and that’s where I learned about the Villages. They said they’re a community place where you can meet people, and I was like, “Oh, I'd love to volunteer.”
I love the Villages. It feels just super nice to have this community place where everyone can come into. And it also gave me the opportunity to talk to different teachers. It is really just such a cool opportunity to talk with more people and really get closer to not just students around you, but also professors and other faculty members.
And working at the Villages, it kind of gave me a reason to go to campus, and to have in-person classes.
I would recommend it so much. You get the opportunity to meet so many other people. It's just a very nice place to come visit. You can grab free snacks, you can grab water and it's just a nice place to relax. Each village has their own kind of vibe to them, and all these different activities and groups that come in. So I totally recommend it for people just to visit or even apply online to become an ambassador.
Mikha Pilar
IMPACT AAPI member and administrative assistant
Third year, biology for transfer major; also pursuing an associate’s in liberal arts with a science, math and engineering emphasis
IMPACT AAPI is a Learning Community for students who identify as Asian American or Pacific Islander
or both. It's a cohort-based system, where students take classes together, and outside of classes we have events
and trips.
I kind of just stumbled upon IMPACT, which is crazy to say, because it has done so much for me.
I moved from my home country, the Philippines, in 2023 — so I only had one year of high school in the U.S. One thing that was a struggle for me in high school was that there weren't a lot of Filipinos on campus. So when I committed to join IMPACT, the main thing I was looking for was community. I've adapted to a lot of the Bay Area culture, but I think IMPACT keeps me more tied to my roots.
Being in IMPACT really helps with motivation and being in an environment where people encourage you, even on things that sound hard. It's so nice to have the support system and people telling you, “Yeah, I think you can do it.”
We're competitive, but not in the sense where you have to be better than everyone else — more in a way where we want everyone to achieve great things.
There's this impression that it's hard to find long-term connections in places like community college, where a lot of people just come in, come out, get their stuff done. But honestly, through IMPACT, I feel like I've made connections that are gonna last probably decades. If you don't know where to start with meeting people or building a community on campus, Learning Communities are there for you as a catalyst.
Alec Walizer
Auto Tech Club president
Fourth year, automotive technology major; has also taken classes for auto electrical, chassis and power train, and engine machining and repair
Some of my friends were already in officer positions, and they brought up going to club officer meetings. I tagged along for some of the meetings, and I'm like, “This is pretty cool, I'd like to help out with planning some events or getting some things in order.”
I ran and was elected vice president.
As I started my role in office, I took on a lot of responsibilities, just filling in little gaps. And then I realized there was more that I could do.
I ran for president, and I guess I did a good enough job — made enough of an impact, and just people seeing me around the building doing things or trying to be supportive, whether academically or in life or whatever else — that I was voted as president this year, and I'm fortunate for that.
Being in a club definitely opens up a lot of opportunities socially and academically. At first, I felt just like just another student in the building who would hang out
or talk with friends, but then after that, I developed into being a part of this community with students and faculty.
I didn't think going into this that I would go into a leadership role, but I'm happy the way that everything has worked out, because I'm more comfortable with speaking in front of a big group, or just going up to people, either on or off campus. It's just made me more comfortable to get out of my own shell.
John Diaz and Elio Minh Nhat Tran
Co-presidents, Calm Composers Club
- John: Second year, music major
- Elio: Second year, sociology major
Pictured right: John Diaz (left) and Elio Minh Nhat Tran
John
It all started with Elio posting on Instagram, “I want to start a club, who wants to join?” So I messaged him, and we started brainstorming ideas. He used
to sing professionally, and I'm a music major, so I was like, “OK, maybe we can do
something music-related,” and then we somehow got this idea of Calm Composers. Composers, 'cause we want a space for people to create stuff, and we want a calming space, where you could chat with your friends, make music, talk.
We get people together, from musicians to vocalists to writers, and we set up performances so that people can either perform their own songs that they wrote, do cover songs or work as a group to perform.
Being part of the club has changed my experience at De Anza honestly quite dramatically. Last year, I was not part of any club or anything, so I would just go to class and go straight home. But now I'm more involved. I'm talking to a lot more people, I'm having a lot more fun. And overall, it's just better.
The club will definitely help me, in terms of my music career. It's very important to get reps in, playing with other people and performing in front of people to beat some of the nerves for future performances.
You get to meet a ton of people, share life experiences, make friends, you know, that's what clubs are about. And here at our club, you don't even need musical experience to start singing, writing songs, everything. We help each other out. So I think clubs can benefit everyone.
Elio
It's been a really long time since I've come back to music. I was focusing more on school, and now it's my second year, and I feel like, why can't I do school and music at the same time? I was seeking people with a love for music and a love for singing. For Club Day, we had a performance. It was very simple, but we had a great, great time together, and so that's the spirit I want to bring forward to the school year.
I think what is special about our club is our intention is to bring people who don't know each other together to make a piece, make a performance out of it, and brainstorm and create.
Last meeting there were a good 12 to 13 people, and we get a chance to talk together, share our knowledge, share about ourselves. I've also gained a lot of administrative experience, from filling out forms, to contacting, to making sure everything is organized and timely. And, like John said, we perform, so we meet together, and we do everything in person. So it connects people together.
Join our club! If it’s been a long time since you touched music, if you want to sing, if you know how to play the guitar, and you're looking for someone or community to play together, definitely consider joining.
Calm Composers Club members have three upcoming performances during fall 2026 scheduled on campus:
- October 28 and November 25 in the food court in the Hinson Campus Center
- November 7 during the De Anza Flea Market