I’M WITHIN HOURS OF COMPLETING MY 25th year at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, and it may be the final year. Or two. Graduation is Wednesday.

What are some highlights of the workplace I’ve called home for that long? Well, I find the people who work there are really, really neat. If there were a neat-meter, they would all pretty well clock in at the top 10 percentile. I feel absolutely blessed to be among so many diverse and interesting and experienced people who are smarter than I, and who stimulate me to give my best, be it teaching or counseling. Lucky guy. I get a parking spot, too.

What’ll you find, in no particular order: 21,000 students over 100 acres, with an average college age of 28. Most are younger ones in the daytime, older in the evening and weekend classes. When they’re in the same classroom, and the teacher knows how to manage that dynamic, the learning can become collaborative — and magical.

The classes — and the classrooms — are small, and attrition happens, so they get even more intimate. Parking’s a drag — arrive super early, “off-schedule” as we say in orientation class. Students from six counties, not just your local “homies.” Be glad — the world is big. They pay lots — you don’t.

More Benicia High School students choose DVC than any other option, and there are several. We have more than 50 associates degrees and are statewide leaders in number of AA/AS degrees for transfer. There are dozens of short-term certificate programs, part of the career tech field and apprenticeship division. Most years, we transfer more students combined into the CSU and UC systems than any community college in Northern California; some years, we’re tops in transfers among the 112 community colleges in all of California. Believe it.

Last year, Haas School of Business at Cal accepted 90 transfer students; 24 came from DVC. I was told that we transfer more students into Cal’s engineering program than any college on the planet; the Dean of Cal’s Engineering program told us that, at a Counseling Department meeting last year. He’d know.

Like many schools, we have Transfer Admissions Guarantee agreements with six UC schools. We are the biggest feeder school to CSU-East Bay as well as St. Mary’s in Moraga. Many international students, too. (Word gets around overseas, too).

While it’s a cliché, check out our website at, predictably, www.dvc.edu. It has a link for the new, the returning, the transfer student, etc. Follow it, read it again and navigate some of the inevitable byways inherent in any strong institution. At a recent Benicia High college/career fair, the most common question was, “When do I begin putting in an application, getting assessed in English and math, etc. for summer and/or fall classes?” The answer is “Now.” Colleges always plan schedules and offerings months in advance.

Go onto that website like I suggested. If you get confused, make use of that Search box. Or call or come by counseling. The doors are open for ya!

Rob Peters is a long-time resident of Benicia. He has been a full-time counselor at Diablo Valley College for more than two decades.

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