For John McCabe, the importance of education has been woven into the fabric of his life since he was about 19 years old. While serving in the U.S. Army from 1960 to 1962, John came to truly understand the value of learning and has not looked back since. At 82 years old, he is taking a class at CCP in addition to working full time and caring for several family members.

“I’m a big fan of education and the classroom,” John said. 

Though he is already a published writer with a college degree, John enrolled in a screenwriting course at CCP to take his writing in a new direction.

“My writing process is enhanced by the discovery of how to go from prose to screenwriting,” John said about the course. “There is a critical use of present tense in the style that needed to be understood. We do that by example and trial and error methods in workshops and peer review.”  

John has been adapting one of his novels, REIKO AND THE VISITOR, into a screenplay throughout the course of the Fall 2024 semester. In October, he also participated in our Drop the Mic competition with a spoken word piece inspired by the same story.

“I owe much to the hard work of the other students and how courteous and involved they became. They work hard and smart, and it rubs off,” John said, about his classmates in the screenwriting course.

The stories that John writes are mostly inspired by the years of his long life. He embraces growing up in Philadelphia and his experiences serving in the U.S. Army. John said he and 600 infantrymen were unknowingly subjected to atomic bomb testing by the Army when his company of soldiers was sent to the desert in Nevada and told they were standing guard. The next thing he knew, an atomic bomb had been exploded 2.5 miles away from where he stood, with only his standard military gear and field glasses as protection.

That nuclear shock was followed by an order to get into a shallow trench where tactical nuclear bombs were detonated 900 meters in front of them. John said that he could see the bones in his hands when the atomic bomb flash erupted. Then, John said, the troops were ordered to charge ground zero, this time with only their standard military gear, and no protective field glasses.

John said that since then, he has undergone 46 surgeries to manage skin and other conditions, which he believes he developed from nuclear exposure. John has used his writing to tell his personal story and experience with nuclear weapons. John said, “My purpose in writing this is to bring out the other side of what happened in the Nevada desert and the historic cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” 

John’s works are mostly fiction. “In order to tell the truth about things, the best thing you can do is write fiction,” John said. And that is exactly what he has spent his life doing.

Though John has degrees from University of Pennsylvania and Bucks County Community College, he said he is so glad that after 28 years he finally decided to take a course here at CCP. He spoke especially fondly of his experience participating in Drop the Mic. 

“In all my years of education, I never saw what I saw at Drop the Mic. The expression was so free, and the content of the expression was uninhibited,” John said. “The judgment by the five professors was the most accurate, most insightful, and perhaps the most intelligent feedback I ever heard from college professors.”

John hopes to enroll in more courses at CCP in the future to continue evolving in his writing. “I am going to see if I can enroll in an introductory course on the Japanese language next semester,” John said. Though it can be challenging to balance a college course with everything else going on in his life, John is always looking for his next learning experience. 

Quy Danh, a Culinary Arts student and Catto Scholar at Community College of Philadelphia, hopes to someday support people struggling with food insecurity. Food— and its holistic properties and ability to bring people together—is at the heart of Quy’s personal story and is what brought him to CCP in the fall of 2023.

“Growing up, we didn’t really have much,” Quy said. “Food was always essential. And seeing my younger siblings go without food... I would give them my share so they would have enough to eat.”

Quy was born in Thailand to a Cambodian family and has been in the United States since the late 1980s. A middle child of five, Quy was often responsible for his two younger siblings growing up. His parents had to work multiple jobs to support their family. As soon as he was old enough, Quy also began working to help provide for his family.

“Since we’re a first-generation immigrant family, I grew up watching my parents working one to two jobs and not coming home often, and my eldest sister usually watched everything,” Quy said. “I guess when I was young, I took it upon myself to work at an early age. I worked in middle school through high school and right after high school, too.”

Working long hours and having to care for his family ultimately led Quy to a difficult place, both emotionally and physically.  

“I got introduced to drugs around 2011. It was always around me, and I didn’t want it at first. Then I guess peer pressure kicked in,” Quy said. People who he worked with in the corrugation industry introduced him to methamphetamines.  

“I was overworking myself, over-exhausted and I needed something that could keep me up. And that was the best choice right there,” Quy continued. “At the end of the day, it really took a toll on my body.”

After a while, Quy realized his lifestyle wasn’t sustainable. He decided to seek help and found reprieve at John F. Kennedy Behavioral Health Center in Center City. It was one of his therapists there who encouraged him to try going back to school.

"I thought about it, and I wasn’t sure if I was going be good enough, since it had been 20 years since I last went to school.”  

But, he said, “It got me thinking more about my life and what I want to do. Since I never really thought about myself. For the most part, I only thought about other people. I was looking at myself like ‘Man, what are my goals?’ I had no clue what I was doing or what I wanted to do or where I wanted to go. But I knew that I loved food.”

Throughout his recovery journey, Quy leaned on food and its healing properties to help himself get to a healthier place. He found himself researching holistic food and began preparing nutritional meals for himself.

“A couple months later, I was back to my original weight. And I felt like that could be a calling,” Quy said.

Since becoming a student at CCP, Quy has been active in the community, on campus and off. He is involved in the College’s Center for Male Engagement and with Catto Scholars; he regularly helps out at Chosen 300, a shelter close to campus that offers fine dining-style meals for folks in need. “I want to learn how to work in that type of area because maybe one day I'll open my own community kitchen,” Quy said.

As for what’s next for Quy, he said he’s taking it one day at a time and hoping to transfer to Walnut Hill College or Lincoln University to continue his education in Culinary Arts and Hospitality after graduating from CCP.

“I was in a pretty bad spot, and I ended up using food to recover. I would like to do something like that, make something that would help people recover from their trauma or disease or addiction,” Quy said. “Food is something that brings people together.”

Food is also what brought Quy to CCP, which he described as a life-changing decision. It takes courage to take control of life in new ways, and that’s exactly what Quy is doing now. CCP is proud to be a part of his journey. 

At Community College of Philadelphia, the health and safety of our students, faculty and staff are of utmost importance. We strive to improve in these areas any way we can. This year, we have achieved new ways of enhancing resources and opportunities for members of our community.

In September, the CCP Counseling department offered employees an opportunity to complete a Mental Health First Aid Certification training in partnership with the Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services (DBHIDS). This training is designed to equip individuals with the skills and knowledge to assist people experiencing mental health challenges. Having staff on campus with this certification has enhanced our ability to support our students and colleagues in maintaining mental health, wellness, and crisis response protocols.

Additionally, some CCP staff members attended the JED Foundation Campus Cohort Convening meeting in November. This year, the College was awarded a $5,000 grant by the JED Foundation and was invited to join a national cohort of community colleges in strategic planning to promote best practices in supporting students. As part of this strategic planning, the College implemented a new informational webpage for mental health resources and suicide prevention. We also hosted a Mental Health Awareness Day Conference that offered a full day of programming to spread awareness about mental health resources both on and off campus. The day featured a keynote address from Councilperson Kendra Brooks, presentations from Psychology 110 students and tabling from various community organizations.

CCP also maintains several resources to help those facing addiction or who are in recovery. Our Office of Collegiate Recovery has Narcan available to anyone who may need it, and some CCP staff members are certified and trained in administering Narcan.

This year, three students in our Behavioral Health and Human Services (BHHS) program, as well as one staff member, completed the 40 hour Certified Domestic Violence Advocate training with Lutheran Settlement House and the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, in partnership with the CCP Gender and Sexuality Resource Center. This certification will provide students with the expertise they need to move forward with their career goals and assist others. Increased opportunities for specialized certifications are needed to help staff best serve our College community and further the education of our students. 

Last November, we administered a survey to students in a coordinated effort to better understand what services and resources will meet their mental and emotional health needs. As we look toward the future, we will continue to use this survey and other research to inform our strategies for enhancing the safety of our community and identify additional knowledge areas that will benefit students in our social services programs.   

At the end of the Spring 2024 semester, Kaley Cant, a Business – General major, came to Wenonah Carney, a Financial Literacy success coach, with an idea for a new student organization that would blend holistic wellness practices with personal finance. Little did Kaley know, that’s exactly what Wenonah had been working toward through her role in CCP’s Single Stop office.   

“The ‘whole’ student is important to consider, and financial stability and literacy are pivotal parts of student success,” Wenonah said. 

“We want students to be empowered, active agents when it comes to their money.”

This approach spoke to Kaley, the group’s president, when she first learned about it in her Stocks 101 course. 

“It just made sense to me,” said Kaley. “Of course, you can’t focus on building personal financial health without first meeting your mental and emotional needs.” 

And so, WEALTH•NESS was born. Through her coaching work, Wenonah formed relationships with students interested in acting as peer mentors.  Kaley and Wenonah recruited students from that list, and from Kaley’s Business classes.

Dave Hansen, Business – General major, became interested in joining the group when Kaley announced their first meeting in a Business 101 class. He’s been an active member ever since and now serves as treasurer of the organization. 

For Dave, this approach is about wholeness within oneself and the realization that finances really do affect every part of a person’s life.

“I would say that our approach to finance management and sense of self creates a sense of completeness,” Dave said. 

“Many individuals tend to disregard their health in the pursuit of financial wealth, but often times, that creates a pitfall where money is just being used to recover their wellness.”

Dave said that WEALTH•NESS’s approach helps individuals develop both financial and overall wellness simultaneously, which allows students to keep their hard-earned money without too much sacrifice. 

“Of course I would never preach what I don't practice,” Dave said. 

“With this approach to personal wealth, I have saved most of my income, gotten healthier and have gotten back to religion in the time I've been with the club.”

In November, Community College of Philadelphia was recognized by the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge as a 2024 ALL IN Most Engaged Campus for College Student Voting. ALL IN is a national nonpartisan initiative that strives to change civic culture and institutionalize democratic engagement activities on college campuses. The goal is to make voter participation a defining feature of campus life.

ALL IN engages over 10 million students from more than 1,000 institutions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The College joins 471 colleges and universities recognized for outstanding efforts to increase nonpartisan student voter participation in the 2024 election.

“It’s so encouraging to see firsthand how students at CCP use their voices to improve their communities,” said Michelle Lopez, director of the Institute for Community Engagement and Civic Leadership at CCP. “As educators, we get to guide our students as they learn about the power of their collective voices and how to be active participants in the democratic process.” 

In 2018, the College launched #CCPVotes, a multiyear, civic engagement initiative designed to engage students in the electoral process. In partnership with the College’s Institute for Community Engagement and Civic Leadership, #CCPVotes offers voter education programming each election cycle.

This year, #CCPVotes registered nearly 300 voters and held more than 10 different tabling events on campus. Tabling events included a National Voter Registration Day event, outreach efforts during Voter Education Week, a Party at the Polls event, and reoccurring voter registration tables on the College’s Main Campus, Northeast Regional Center, and Career and Advanced Technology Center. The #CCPVotes team completed 12 classroom presentations to register students to vote and discuss 2024 ballot candidates. The College also engages with #CCPVotes student fellows, empowering students to practice civic leadership skills and coordinate successful education events.

“Community College of Philadelphia prepares students to be informed citizens who are active participants in the cultural life of our city,” said College President Dr. Donald Guy Generals. “The College’s outstanding #CCPVotes team and Institute for Community Engagement and Civic Leadership go above and beyond to foster a civic-minded campus culture. I’m proud of our students for making their voices heard through their votes and through their involvement in our community.”