“The broken mirror represents the broken images of things we select to see and the information we want to take. We can educate and better inform people about what’s really going on in the community ... It helps us [students] to relate better to the community outside of just UC Merced.”

Ramírez agrees: “Instead of taking our talents somewhere else, [we can] use those talents here, locally. You don’t have to go away farther than Merced for all of the kinds of problems that exist, even on a global level. Use that education to empower communities.”

Ramírez doesn’t take credit for what the students have done. In fact, he does quite the opposite. “I didn’t give them any incentives,” he says. “They jumped on board willingly. It was very encouraging for me to see them.”

Machado and Saldana are examples of a growing number of students who care about Merced, who want to hear from it, learn from it, become immersed in it, and help to transform it for the better.

“One of the things that I really like about this project is it’s not just ... a bunch of rainbows,” Machado says. “There are a lot of mechanics to this project that we put in there to make it functional. There are a lot of good ideas out there, but one of the hardest things about good ideas is finding a way to apply them.”

By encouraging collaborations between the people of Merced, the UC, and the community college, concrete changes can happen. But they require an openness on the part of all involved to work in conjunction with people outside of their familiar comfort zones.

“Education is not only coming to school and listening to a lecture and learning from a book,” Saldana says. “[Education is] also through praxis, through going out there and being involved...contributing to the community outside of the campus.

"In calculus, I learned that the limit does not necessarily always exist,” Machado says. “[Professor Ramírez’s] project not only gives students the opportunity to learn but the opportunity to change the world, if they want to. And all great changes begin with one step.”

Ramírez, Machado, and Saldana are taking that first step. Perhaps their example will become contagious to others around the UC, the college, and the entire community.

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