By Kay Pham-Nguyen
Former Editor-in-Chief of the Viking News, Lolita Mojica, has been named LBCC’s 2025 valedictorian, who was a Next Gen Scholar for NPR and had featured stories through her internship with Los Angeles’ KCRW.
Mojica found herself enrolled as a full time student at LBCC in 2023, with her first assignment for the Viking News being an obituary on Irving Alvarez, an LBCC student who had died in a fatal car crash on Halloween in 2023.
“It was hard for me because I lost my mom pretty early on, and actually my mom was murdered by my dad when I was 4, and as a result I’ve always felt a strong connection to anything prison related, so when I found out Alvarez was a former Justice Scholar, I immediately felt the need to do right and write the story,” Mojica said.
The Justice Scholars program assists and supports formerly incarcerated or system-impacted students pursuing a higher education.
The story was recognized with a second place award at the California College Media Association (CCMA) Awards in 2024, and led her to go the extra mile and send out physical copies of the newspaper with the obituary for Alvarez to his family members.
Being named valedictorian was never Mojica’s main educational goal, but she applied and was surprised to receive recognition.
“Valedictorian was never on my radar, I didn’t really excel, I just wanted to get into a good school,” Mojica said.
She began working immediately after graduating highschool and eventually fell into the world of bartending. Mojica was the general manager of Bar Flores and later founded the bar catering company Dahlia Bar Co.
During the pandemic, Mojica found time to take care of her mental health and became invested in reading, which motivated her to pursue her education rather than continue her bartending career.
“Right around COVID, which was pre-Bar Flores, I was already starting to feel disillusioned because up until that I had been working 60 hour weeks, and once COVID hit, I realized I had no personality,” Mojica said.
When she made the decision to return to school in 2023, Mojica majored in journalism and upheld a “do-or-die” mentality.
“I was at Cerritos (College), I wanted to study journalism. That was all I wanted to do since I was a kid, but I quickly realized I couldn’t go to school and take care of myself at the same time,” Mojica said.
As an Afro-Latina woman, Mojica shared that she had always felt different from her family because she was the only one who was Black, and they were never tolerant of her heritage.
“Growing up I think I believed that worth always came from what I did, and not who I was,” Mojica said.
LBCC has allowed Mojica to build a community of support, including her boss Karla Aguiniga and fellow student Juan Pablo Rodriguez Villegas.
“I think it’s funny how she presents herself in a way with her leather and her big boots but when you talk to her she’s so kind and very sweet and you can tell she really cares about you,” Rodriguez Villegas said.
Aguiniga felt that Mojica had a challenging journey in both educational and personal regards, but has learned how to find support and advocate for her needs.
“Hearing that she was valedictorian was probably one of the happiest moments and I was so proud of her,” Aguiniga said.
By Kay Pham-Nguyen
Neighbors of Long Beach City College’s Liberal Arts Campus are worried about the decrease in their property value, overcrowded parking and loitering in the neighborhood due to the school’s new campus housing plan, which will build 420 dorms.
The campus housing build gets its funds from the 2024 LA County General Election Measure AC, and is planned to be built on the corner of Lew Davis Street and Clark Avenue with the goal of providing affordable student housing, projected to be finished in 2028.
“With these funds, we will be able to transform our campuses with cutting-edge facilities that match the ambition and potential of our students. From upgraded nursing labs and state of the art classrooms, to affordable housing and sustainable design, Measure AC will make LBCC an institution where students can thrive academically and personally,” an LBCC press release stated.
This project has neighbors questioning the effects of what the housing addition might bring to their neighborhood.
“I’m not really too concerned about the noise, but what I am worried about is the litter and the loitering. Sometimes, I walk outside and random people just start yelling at me for no reason,” neighbor Yumi Tiangco said.
Tiangco read about the addition of campus housing in a local newspaper last year, but claimed that she had not received any formal notification as a homeowner.
The Viking received a statement from LBCC regarding if neighbors of LAC were notified about the construction of the student housing.
“LBCC remains committed to transparency and ongoing communication about our construction projects. Regular updates are provided through formal channels, including reports to the Citizens’ Oversight Committee and the Board of Trustees. Most recently, Vice President of Administrative and Business Services Candace Jones presented an update on the Student Housing project—including video mock-ups of the proposed design—at the May 14, 2025 Board of Trustees meeting (presentation begins at 3:45:45). Our former Vice President of Administrative and Business Services engaged in multiple discussions with the community prior to the presentation of Measure AC to voters,” the statement read.
Toni Pearson, another local resident and Tiangco both mentioned that only within the last year or two did their neighborhood get permit-only parking, with each vehicle required to have a yearly $35 permit.
“We have five cars because my kids drive and we don’t have enough room in the driveway to fit all of our cars, so that’s $35 a year, per car,” Tiangco said.
Pearson also stated that residents had to ask the city multiple times to take action on students taking parking spaces.
“We had to call and ask a bunch of times to get them to put signs up on this street because students were parking in here all the time,” Pearson said.
Another concern that Pearson had was regarding traffic in the neighborhood, specifically regarding emergency responses.
“We live on a really small street, so it’s not as wide as you think it is. We have a fire department right over there and so I’m just concerned that if something happens they might not be able to get through,” Pearson said.
Decreasing property value is a main concern among the neighborhood, with Tiangco sharing that one of her neighbors has thought about moving due to the new housing addition.
“My neighbor right over there has said he’s thought about moving because his property value might decrease once they finish (building the dorms),” Tiangco said.
Jim Wright, another neighbor, expressed confusion as to why the school is building campus housing because community colleges are typically commuter colleges, meaning students live off campus and drive to school.
“How many kids come from out of state to go to Long Beach City College? I mean, typically, you need housing and colleges for kids that aren’t from the area. But a JC College? Typically, that’s kids from the town. They go there, or are at least within a few miles where traveling is not a problem. I don’t understand why they feel they need school housing for a junior college,” Wright said.
LBCC is working with neighborhood association groups to aim towards creating recurring town hall meetings where neighbors can provide their feedback and share updates on the multiple construction projects taking place.
By Kay Pham-Nguyen
Formerly incarcerated LBCC student, Francisco Baldonado has rebuilt his life through art, education, and is now a featured artist in the new exhibit “Hope Restored: Justice Scholars Student Exhibition,” which opened on Feb. 13.
The Justice Scholars program is a system of resources and community for formerly incarcerated students at LBCC pursuing a higher education, which supported Baldonado throughout his journey of self discovery.
Baldonado is now pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Studio Fine Art and a teaching credential at the age of 45, but none of it would have been possible without the help of the Justice Scholars, a program that raises awareness for formerly incarcerated students so that they are capable of getting a further education.
“Because my pieces are more graphic and uncommon images in academia, I want my pieces in the exhibit to have viewers who may have people in their lives, like their mom, dad, brothers, or uncles, or someone who could relate to my old lifestyle, realize that they can change and that the life I had before is way different than what I do now,” Baldonado said.
Baldonado spent the majority of his younger years unsupervised and putting on different masks in different areas of his life.
He alludes to the fact that there was a lot of time growing up where he was left unsupervised, due to his parents always working to support him and his three siblings, leading him to make very poor choices at a young age, which ultimately led to him serving time in prison.
Baldonado dropped out of school around the age of 15, and decided to pursue the workforce instead.
Once he started working and making what he called, “a decent amount of money,” he soon realized that he didn’t have much interest in continuing his education.
From then on, he was introduced to a life of gang culture and he spiraled into making choices that led to him serving time.
With much time to reflect on all his decisions up to that point, he realized that he would have to change his perspective on how he would live his life.
This led Baldonado to commit to sobriety and get more in touch with his inner faith.
He now uses this upbringing and life experience as the backbone of his paintings.
Going into prison, he considered himself to be more rebellious, but as Baldonado spent more time there he began to notice things– like how he would smoke and drink as coping mechanisms.
He soon started replacing those habits with reading books on spiritual transformation, redemption, and the Bible.
Baldonado’s time spent in prison was a period of realization and redemption for him.
“My mom would come to visit me and every time she did, she would sing me worship songs and I guess that just started cutting into my soul, so I guess I just came to my senses,” Baldonado said.
In 2022, he began to pursue his education as a part time student as a result of burnout from years of physical fieldwork, carpentry and masonwork.
Out of curiosity, he began speaking to his professors and ended up having many personal connections with them as they constantly encouraged him to continue a higher education.
He had now felt more willing than ever to reach out to the resources he was given, such as the Justice Scholars.
“Francisco came in as a shy and reserved person, not thinking [Justice Scholars] was for him, but as he got more involved he realized that he could do so much more. He has grown into someone who used to feel limited and now is going above and beyond,” Justice Scholars outreach and recruitment specialist, Rosa Martinez said.
These same feelings are also very apparent through many of the people that surround Baldonado.
“When I think about Francisco, right off the bat I think about his skill level and the natural talent he has of creating a realistic visual of what he’s trying to represent. He doesn’t glorify gang life or prison, but he sets it up in a way that represents redemption, sincerity and authentic vision of how he is personally dealing with his life. His redemption is palpable,” said art exhibit curator, Alberto Lule.
Baldonado hopes that he can use his talent and artistry to communicate what he can’t put into words into something people can understand visually.
His paintings will be on display in the “Hope Restored: Justice Scholars Student Exhibition,” in the K Building on LAC from Feb. 13 through March 22.
By Kay Pham-Nguyen
LBCC student Kyla Foster claimed to accidentally be living a double life when she referred to her pursuits in music as a touring rock drummer while also studying music, with an emphasis on jazz trumpet.
Foster is currently the drummer for Long Beach band The Anti Groupies, an all-girl rock band who have recently become a familiar face in the Long Beach rock music scene.
She was introduced to music at a very young age, with her first vivid memory of music being listening to the “Rubber Soul” album by The Beatles.
“I remember hearing that album in third grade and realizing (music) was something I could follow and understand, and I don’t understand much, so I kept pursuing it,” Foster said.
Foster began taking music electives in fifth grade and pursued trumpet and keys.
She has continued to study jazz trumpet through her days at LBCC with professor Patrick Sheng.
Foster joked about her double life being a result of her forgetfulness.
“I kind of just don’t realize that I don’t tell people that I play drums,” Foster said.
Sheng wasn’t surprised when he found out about Foster’s personal endeavors, but he seems to jokingly pester her about letting him see her perform.
“She won’t let me come see her perform because she always forgets to give me a flyer, and I forget the dates when she tells me,” Sheng said.
Despite not seeing her drumming capabilities, he chimed in on her trumpet skills.
“Jumping out of high school she was a really strong player, which not a lot of people are, and she’s a great feature soloist, so I always try to feature her when I can,” Sheng said.
Foster claimed to be a self-taught drummer and revealed that she chose to play trumpet when she was younger due to being able to read the sheet music more easily.
“I felt like I didn’t really have the chops to read the sheet music for drums properly and so I went with trumpet instead when I had to choose my instrument,” Foster said.
As a self-taught drummer, being unable to read sheet music didn’t stop her bandmate Isabella Broersma from sharing that Foster was a key part of the band.
“She makes a whole difference with the way she adds drums and harmonies to everything we write is special. If she were to ever be replaced, we would be a completely different band,” Broersma said.
The feeling was mutual as Foster shared that being in the band was a great experience for her.
“We all come from different musical backgrounds, even though they all went to the School of Rock, and so they all just make me want to become a better musician,” Foster said.
Foster’s time in The Anti Groupies also created memorable moments for Broersma, such as Foster forgetting her drum kit for a live session performance.
“Kyla didn’t read the email and she forgot to bring her drums, and the entire music department was gone by this point so we had to make a makeshift drum kit out of random buckets we found around,” Broersma said.
Whether it’s playing trumpet or drums, being a drummer doesn’t stop Foster from being in the spotlight.
“They love letting me sing in every song. I’m not too big on being in the spotlight but they always give me my time to shine,” Foster said, regarding playing with The Anti-Groupies.
Foster will be performing with The Anti Groupies in Los Angeles on May 23 at 9 p.m. at The Viper Room.