Aspiring Scholar Provides Campus Perspective

Aspiring Scholar Provides Campus Perspective

When Rebecca Brooks launched Cal State San Marcos' Aspiring Scholars program in 2023, she envisioned a place where students with intellectual disabilities could fully experience campus life while building skills, confidence and a pathway to meaningful employment.

Now in its third year, the program has grown from four students to 19, offering participants an opportunity to learn and grow in the CSUSM community while earning a certificate in higher education academic and career studies. Last fall, the program reached another milestone by securing on-campus internships for students.

This spring, one of those students, William Yang, joined the University Communications office. Yang has been honing his skills as a photographer and assisting with social media, capturing campus life in numerous photos during his first six weeks of the internship.

We recently asked Yang to select some of his favorite images to share. The first gallery features seven of his picks, followed by a second gallery with seven additional selections chosen by our editorial team.

• The clock tower on Academic Hall is one of the most prominent landmarks on campus. Photo by William Yang
• A view of Kellogg Library photographed from the rotunda of the Administrative Building. Photo by William Yang
• Since its inception in 2007, the ethnobotany garden has been providing students and the local community an outdoor educational laboratory to study coastal chaparral and woodland ecological systems, medical plant properties, landscape management, traditional food production and sustainability practices. Photo by William Yang
• A side view of Academic Hall. Photo by William Yang
• A look down a pathway on the fifth floor of the Administrative Building. Photo by William Yang
• University Hall glimpsed through the rotunda of the Administrative Building. Photo by William Yang
• A peek at the late-afternoon sun through a still-barren tree on campus. Photo by William Yang

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• A Black Excellence Month display inside Kellogg Library. Photo by William Yang
• A late-afternoon view of Palm Court from the top of the stairs near Markstein Hall. Photo by William Yang
• A view of North City from the Cesar Chavez statue. Photo by William Yang
• A rare quiet moment along Kellogg Plaza. Photo by William Yang
• The view looking up from the rotunda in the Administrative Building. Photo by William Yang
• The view from Kellogg Plaza of one of campus' most recognizable spots -- the Administrative Building rotunda. Photo by William Yang
• While at an event outside the library, William snapped this shot of fellow University Communications interns Makayla DeLaCruz (left) and Kirra Robusto. Photo by William Yang

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Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

[email protected] | Office: 760-750-7314