For many of the 250 students who turned out for a Mar.4 town hall meeting at Mission College, the effects of recent cuts were all too real. With State Sen. Alex Padilla addressing rising concerns over the state budget crisis, the town hall gave students a chance to have their questions answered.

Organized by AFT 1521’s student interns at the Sylmar College, the meeting was the first of nine such events planned for the year, noted Zack Knorr, head of the Student Intern Mobilization program. According to Knorr, Interns have already met with 15 legislators this year and will meet with about 20 more.

“The students are rallying to mobilize around the issues and making sure their voices are heard by their state legislators – which is really powerful,” Knorr said.

Many students in attendance had already seen the effects of recent budget cuts, including fewer classes, larger class sizes, and increasingly oppressive costs. For those who are on track to transfer to four-year universities, the class shortage has often meant putting off their goals – and putting their future in jeopardy.

Padilla spoke about these challenges and potential solutions in the fight to support community college funding, adding a personal account of struggle and achievement that resonated with many in the audience.

“I’d like to think it wasn’t so long ago that I was sitting in your seats,” said Padilla, who grew up in nearby Pacoima. Padilla’s father worked as a cook – “hard, honest work,” he said, and sometimes took a second job to make ends meet, while his mother cleaned houses. “Only in America. They came to the U.S. for their kids to have a good education – does this sound familiar? They worked hard for this.”

For 19-year-old Yasiri Bustamante, an AB 540- which allows qualified undocumented students to be excused from paying considerably higher out-of-state tuition at public colleges and universities in California- student who helped organize the town meeting, the message hit home.

Seeing Padilla was inspiring, says Bustamante, whose dream is to become an Ob/Gyn. “I was 10 years old when I started going with my mom to clean houses. My dad is one of 12. I’ll be the first in my family to graduate. I just don’t want it to stop here, I want to get my doctorate.”

A full-time student at Mission, Bustamante is also a single mother. “I thought, ‘how am I going to work, I don’t even have legal status?’” she said. “I can only go to college – and how do I pay for it?”

Rising fees have put pressure on her family, said Bustamante. Her son, and “little surprises” like landing in the honor society with a 4.0 GPA – as well as hearing Padilla speak, are what keep her going, she said.

She is also hoping that new legislation (like the Dream Act, which would allow undocumented immigrant youth to gain their citizenship in exchange for completing a college degree) will address the educational needs of AB 540 students. “I hope it [passes] because then my brothers and sisters can have the same opportunities as these citizens here,” she said, gesturing to the audience.

Like Bustamante, 21-year-old student intern Adriana Zepeda, 21, has siblings who will be affected by the budget cuts. “Personally, I don’t get financial aid, but my sister goes to CSUN and my brother goes here,” says the biology major, adding that her mother doesn’t work and her father’s hours have just been cut at work. “I might have to get a job – but I’m already a year behind and if I have to pay tuition I’ll fall even farther.”

For Ademir Villacota, one of Mission’s six interns who organized the meeting, rising cuts mean another year at community college.

“I was supposed to transfer this fall to UCLA, but due to the cuts I missed some classes because they were full, so I’m stuck here for another year; our school got cut by 22 percent,” said Villacota. “Our student services, financial aid – now there are fewer counselors, less people in administration, and longer lines. In September we’re gonna feel the pinch. There will be 100 students who won’t be able to add a math class.”

A Poli-Sci major, Villacota said the internship program has given him valuable experience in community organizing. “I’m getting to see how it works. I’m also getting to know a lot of other people from other colleges, and people like Sen. Padilla.”

Interns visited legislators in Sacramento two weeks ago, adds Zepeda, saying, “I feel like we’ve been getting our message out and hopefully they’ve heard us and will stop raising student taxes.”

When a student in the audience asked Padilla how he and his fellow lawmakers planned to stop the budget cuts, the senator said there was some good news on the horizon: “We’ve been hearing that the projected budget deficit is $20 billion, but the state’s revenue for [4Q09] is up – car, home, retail sales are up. If we keep going this way, maybe it will come down to $13 or $14 billion, and we’re on track for that.”

Padilla also noted that Gov. Schwarzenegger’s plan to balance the budget includes a move to increase federal funding, which the senator noted might get a boost from a rule change that could translate to $3 - $4 billion in relief.

As president of the student interns at Mission, Alex Morales (28), a political science major, is determined to fight any impending budget cuts, which he says will result in more dropouts and less opportunities for the people who really need them.

“It’s a win-win situation to sponsor community college students,” says the soon-to-be-graduate, who has dreams of being in the state legislature. “I took the challenge to fight for our education. My goal is to mobilize students and keep them aware of the budget cuts. I plan to keep mobilizing, even after I graduate.”