When Ganna Zgama recorded the final episode of Take a Paws for the spring 2026 semester, she did so as a newly minted graduate and the class Valedictorian. The SJCC student who created the podcast and helped build it into one of the college’s most recognized student media productions had walked across the stage at Commencement just the day before.
“Your final episode with me, because your girl graduated just yesterday,” Zgama told co-host Guadalupe Alatorre and listeners as the episode opened, equal parts proud and bittersweet.
Zgama, who also served as a social media intern with SJCC’s Marketing and Public Information Office, is weighing transfer offers from UC Berkeley and the University of Southern California and has not yet announced her decision. SJCC student Ariana Ramirez will join Allatorre, a Communication Studies professor who co-hosts the show, and will continue in that role as the new student voice of Take a Paws beginning this fall.
The spring finale was a fitting send-off: a full-length graduation special featuring two guests whose stories spoke directly to the journeys SJCC students navigate every day.
Take a Paws has interviewed a wide variety of guests since it launched in April 2025.
A Photographer Finding Her Voice
First to join the hosts was Lilith Sanchez, a first-year studio arts student and photographer with SJCC’s Marketing and Public Information department. Over the course of the semester, Sanchez became the face behind some of the college’s most memorable event photos.
With roughly 20 graduation and recognition ceremonies dotting SJCC’s calendar this spring, Sanchez photographed events across campus. Her standout? The La Raza Commencement.
“I had such a great time photographing it as a Latina,” she said. “It’s so empowering to see so many people who identify the same as me.”
Sanchez, who is planning to transfer to CSU Long Beach at the end of next academic year, said her work at SJCC has given her an opportunity to expand her portfolio and develop a commercial photography style she had not previously explored.
“I’m really happy to have my job here,” she said. “This has given me a great opportunity to build up my style for commercial work.”
From De Anza to City Hall: A Council Member’s Journey
The episode’s featured guest was San José City Councilmember Pamela Campos of District 2, whose own community college roots gave the graduation conversation a deeper resonance. A former De Anza College student who transferred to San José State University, Councilmember Campos graduated from SJSU’s Lurie College of Education with a degree in child development, and will return this spring to deliver the college’s commencement address, nearly a decade after walking across the stage herself.
“Almost 10 years after I graduated, I get to go back and see some of my professors and experience this moment of joy with the new graduating class,” she said. “I’m really excited about that.”
Council Member Campos was candid about the gap between expectation and reality that many graduates face. After earning her degree, she found herself working in early childhood education — a field she loved — at wages that made it a financial struggle to stay in San José.
“I got my degree, and everything was not okay,” she said. “I was struggling to find a job that was going to help me not just survive but thrive in San José.”
That frustration became the fuel for a career in advocacy and, eventually, public office. Now she works to address the exact issues — unaffordable housing, inaccessible childcare, low wages in caregiving fields — that once threatened to push her out of the city she calls home.
The council member also weighed in on SJCC’s new Career Education Complex (CEC), which she attended the ribbon-cutting celebration for in April. She described the building as “state of the art” and praised its open interior gathering space in particular.
“I saw folks were still lingering there after the event ended,” she said. “It’s really nice to have a place that’s not just taking you from A to B, but a place to hang out and have that third space.”
On Transferring — and Trusting Yourself
Asked what advice she’d offer SJCC students weighing their next steps, Council Member Campos drew on her own transfer experience — having been accepted to multiple CSU and UC campuses before choosing SJSU to stay close to family and pursue a specific degree program.
“Listen to yourself and what you think is right for you in that moment,” she said, “because what’s right for you may not be the same thing that’s right for someone else.”
She also spoke to students who may not see government or civic engagement as something meant for them a message that landed with particular weight given the audience.
“Government is supposed to reflect the people,” she said. “That’s why it’s so important that we have youth voices at the table, because those are the people who are going to be most impacted by decisions we make today that we’ll see 30 years from now.”
For students interested in getting involved, Council Member Campos highlighted paid summer internship opportunities through the City of San José’s Parks and Recreation department and the Norman Mineta Summer Bay Area Academy as accessible entry points into public service.
A New Season Ahead
Take a Paws launched under Zgama’s leadership as a platform for student voices, campus news, and community conversations at SJCC. Over the course of its run, the show earned national recognition — including a Gold Award at the National EDMAwards and helped establish a model for student-produced media at the college.
As Zgama moves on to her next chapter, the show moves with the institution. Alatorre will remain at the helm as co-host, and incoming student host Ariana Ramirez will join
Watch the latest episode.
Take a Paws is produced by SJCC Marketing and Public Information and is available on SJCC’s YouTube channel and social media platforms.
