Imagine walking up to a room and planning to feel awkward and intimidated by an overwhelming number of guys. You breathe a sigh of relief as you walk into one of the rooms of the Riverside Community College Automotive Technology Department, because the first person that you see is a young woman.

The academic year began with great fanfare Sept. 16, during Riverside Community College’s annual Convocation in the A.G. Paul Quadrangle. A host of officials from a variety of colleges came to greet the new academic year, expressing eager anticipation for the coming months.

Riverside Community College held its first homeWater Polo match on Sept. 14 against Santa Ana. RCC had the lead going into halftime thanks to their great defense and aggressive offense. After halftime, RCC’s offense continued to be explosive with a goal by Zac Skelton with 2:02 in the second half.

On Sept. 9, the Women’s Cross Country team came the closest anyone has been in four years to beating Orange Coast. Coach Mike Barbee says it is because his athletes train and work hard every practice. Even though no standings are kept, Barbee believes that the team is ranked second or third.

The women’s soccer team was led by first year head coach Lynsey Jalayer, who hosted the Spartans of Mira Costa in a non conference match Sept 14. Prior to this game the Tigers suffered their first loss of the season to Orange Coast. When asked how she felt about today’s game Jalayer was optimistic.

Picture, for a minute, a group of men dressed in red and blue jumpsuits. They are all gathered as they hoot, holler and slap each other high fives. You may be tempted to guess that these men are drawn together for some kind of patriotic event, maybe even for the celebration of the Fourth of July inevitably due to the colors that they are all wearing.

2-1 was not a loss, but more of a maturing process for the Riverside Community College men’s soccer team in its recent match up versus San Bernardino Valley College. Plays were not defined on either side of the field. But coach Francisco Melgarejo sees this as a learning experience, for a team with about 90 percent of the players being freshmen.

The Tigers are on an average run with a record of 6-4. The team only has three returning players and the rest consist of freshmen. In addition the Tigers have terrific talent and they work great as a unit. With leading player Erin Araujo, and Kristina Obermeyer, who combined for 28 kills and 34 digs.