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MCC Daily Tribune

Upward Bound MARK Group Takes on Self-Defense with Professor Otero

MCC Upward Bound's male leadership group is back in action! In MARK's (Men Advancing, Raising Knowledge) first event of the year, thirteen students got the full experience of MCC Professor Chris Otero. He began with a discussion on personal responsibility, followed by a fun and physical self-defense lesson.

Every student at the table had his eyes glued to Prof. Otero as he shared his wisdom with the group: "Especially when we are young, we don't have control over most of what happens in our life. We cannot control another person's racist thoughts. We can't control what people say to us. And also, our families bring things to us that are beyond our control. But we can strengthen our own center of control, our personal agency, and this kind of inner-strength helps increase our success."

The young men responded with stories of their own challenges with teachers and peers, and considered how Prof. Otero's words applied to their circumstances. "He treated us like we were adults," noted Nadae, one of the group's student leaders. "He brought up real issues that are going on in our lives, and helped us think about our responsibility."

After the discussion, they headed up to the Downtown Campus Dance Studio to hone their self-defense skills. Prof. Otero taught the group how to disarm attackers and pin them to the ground, which can keep victims safe without inflicting immense harm on the perpetrators. As the students learned the moves, they had a chance to practice them on Prof. Otero and each other. Freshman JhVari had a blast: "Professor Otero showed us how to defend ourselves and stay safe without throwing any punches. It was awesome!"

Paul Stack
Upward Bound
11/14/2017