The Oak Leaf

The Oak Leaf The Oak Leaf is the award-winning, student-produced news media of Santa Rosa Junior College that has

The Oak Leaf MagazineFall 2025 | Volume 6 | Issue 2Out now!
12/21/2025

The Oak Leaf Magazine
Fall 2025 | Volume 6 | Issue 2

Out now!

Winnie was only 10 weeks old when she first set paw into the Oak Leaf newsroom. She spent most of the first class hiding...
12/21/2025

Winnie was only 10 weeks old when she first set paw into the Oak Leaf newsroom. She spent most of the first class hiding in her mother, Anne Belden’s, arms, taking the occasional break to sniff around the room and — to everyone’s dismay — gnaw on cable wires.

Though it was Winnie’s first time in room 106, it was by no means the first time a member of the Belden bunch joined the newsroom.

Anne Belden, adviser to the Oak Leaf, has worked at Santa Rosa Junior College as a journalism instructor for 22 years. For just as long, she’s brought a furry friend into work with her.

Click on the MAGAZINE link in our bio to read the full article.

📝: Zoë Steiner
📸: Lauren Kelleher

At Snoopy’s Home Ice, the Santa Rosa Junior College Polar Bears locker room is a scene of organized intensity long befor...
12/21/2025

At Snoopy’s Home Ice, the Santa Rosa Junior College Polar Bears locker room is a scene of organized intensity long before the first puck drops. Sticks whack against the concrete, gloves slap against benches and a faint pulse of music threads through the noise.

Every player moves with a rhythm only he understands, from the order in which he straps on pads to the precise way he tapes his stick.

In hockey, routines aren’t just habits — they’re a lifeline. They calm the nerves, focus the mind and give players a sense of control over a game that moves faster than most can track. Some rituals verge on superstition, while others are purely practical.

For players Logan Koop, Traber Burns and Adam Berry, game day is a careful balancing act between psychology, preparation and habit.

Click on the MAGAZINE link in our bio to read the full article.

📝: Rhea Bath
📸: Lauren Kelleher

Lately, I have been exclusively reading books with weird women protagonists — and having the time of my life. It’s delig...
12/21/2025

Lately, I have been exclusively reading books with weird women protagonists — and having the time of my life. It’s delightful to read a novel that isn’t afraid to explore an unapologetically strange female protagonist, and I want to share that joy. I recently finished three fiction books and absolutely loved them; they all feature leading women sharing remarkable experiences. From brain damage to imprisonment to obsession, each narrator has a perspective that will take you far beyond your own imagination. I’d encourage anyone to read these books and show compassion for the women we don’t understand — those who challenge social norms, make the wrong choices and exist as the weird, awkward, human messes we can all relate to.

Click on the MAGAZINE link in our bio to read the full article.

📝: Jesse Saal

Embarrassing stories — we all have them. But there’s always that one, the one that still embarrasses us years later, the...
12/21/2025

Embarrassing stories — we all have them. But there’s always that one, the one that still embarrasses us years later, the one that haunts our memories like a recurring fever dream.

The Oak Leaf collected the best of these stories from SRJC students, staff and instructors. Hopefully, you will laugh, find commonality and, maybe, discover that — like a good reality TV show — there’s someone with moment more shocking than yours.

The Oak Leaf praises these courageous souls who have shared their stories and respects their wish to remain anonymous. Therefore, we have given all contributors pseudonyms, except one: me.

I bravely take the first step onto the chopping block — whoever gathers the stories begins by telling their own.

Click on the MAGAZINE link in our bio to read the full article.

📝: Michael Bragg
Graphics by Natalie Emanuele

On the melancholic shores of a seaside town, a particularly depressed and delicious girl runs into a man-eating mermaid....
12/20/2025

On the melancholic shores of a seaside town, a particularly depressed and delicious girl runs into a man-eating mermaid. Instead of immediately eating her, the mermaid protects her from other supernatural creatures attracted to her delectable scent, waiting for the day when she is finally ripe enough for the mermaid to properly enjoy, a fate which the borderline suicidal girl welcomes. 

“This Monster Wants to Eat Me” or its original title, “Watashi wo Tabetai, Hitodenashi,” is a horror manga written and illustrated by Sai Naekawa, exploring the complicated bond between an ancient and powerful sea monster and a gloomy high school girl. The story focuses on themes of loneliness, isolation, trust, and the heavy, sometimes unbearable trauma we humans hold onto.

Click on the A&E link in our bio to read the full article.

📝: Benjamin Lyle

The Santa Rosa Junior College men’s basketball team looked to avenge its only loss of the season, but City College of Sa...
12/20/2025

The Santa Rosa Junior College men’s basketball team looked to avenge its only loss of the season, but City College of San Francisco again proved too tough, beating the Bear Cubs 71-65 Dec. 5 at Haehl Pavilion. 

SRJC (7-2) came into the game riding a 3-0 run after sweeping the Shasta College Tournament and sought to reverse its 64-51 loss to CCSF (11-0) on Nov. 2. Instead, the defending state champions controlled the tempo and pulled away during a decisive late stretch. 

Click on the SPORTS link in our bio to read the full article.

📝: Rhea Bath
📸: Yna Bo***ck

Blaring forth a mix of distorted synth, droning bass, the drummer screaming beneath her crashing cymbals and an unlikely...
12/20/2025

Blaring forth a mix of distorted synth, droning bass, the drummer screaming beneath her crashing cymbals and an unlikely saxophone, Sex-Ed makes genre-bending their stage. Much like Sex-Ed the class, the band explores gender, sexuality and the chaotic side of life. 

The members, Caleb Poole, 21, on drums and vocals, Chase Ransom, 21, on synth and sampler, and Kira Volk, 22, on bass and saxophone, formed Sex-Ed in August of 2024 during their time at Santa Rosa Junior College. Since their first show on Oct. 11, they’ve been bringing their experimental form of electronic-screamo to the Santa Rosa music scene.

The band is unabashedly queer-fronted, making music for the people school never taught us about. Both Poole and Volk are trans women, while Ransom is nonbinary. Their music expresses the inherent feeling of confusion and otherness that accompanies being trans.

Click on the A&E link in our bio to read the full article.

📝: Jesse Saal

Editor’s note: This article contains profanity.Santa Rosa Junior College’s food and service provider, Pacific Dining, te...
12/18/2025

Editor’s note: This article contains profanity.

Santa Rosa Junior College’s food and service provider, Pacific Dining, terminated an employee who used profanity and derogatory words towards a Black student on Aug. 26, according to witnesses. The incident led to a widespread boycott of the Bear’s Den dining hall during the fall semester.

On Dec. 5 Vice President of Student Services Dr. Molly Senecal emailed SRJC staff, followed by an email to students on Dec. 9, informing them that the employee was terminated after Pacific Dining conducted a personal investigation with additional feedback from SRJC leadership and students.

Click on the NEWS link in our bio to read the full article.

📝: Kinda Hamami
📸: Destiny Quiroz-Lindauer

The Santa Rosa Junior College Disability Cultural Center hosted an interactive dance workshop for students and staff wit...
12/18/2025

The Santa Rosa Junior College Disability Cultural Center hosted an interactive dance workshop for students and staff with the Urban Jazz Dance Company to promote inclusion and awareness of disabled people in the arts at noon Dec. 1 in Emeritus Hall.

The Urban Jazz Dance Company is a Black-owned San Francisco based organization that hosts events showcasing deaf and disabled dancers. They also provide resources for the greater Bay Area disabled community. Company representatives advocate for disability rights, feminism, racial justice and equality for all.

Click on the NEWS link in our bio to read the full article.

📝: Jesse Saal
📸: Pacific Jeremy

Junior year, second semester: I was in my first-period Spanish class when my teacher’s classroom phone rang. When he ans...
12/16/2025

Junior year, second semester: I was in my first-period Spanish class when my teacher’s classroom phone rang. When he answered, he looked directly at me. At first, I was confused. Did I do something wrong? Did something happen to a family member? Am I getting signed out for the day? Millions of thoughts raced through my head. He hung up the phone and walked toward my desk.

“You’re needed in the office,” he said. I nervously packed my belongings.

When I stepped into the office, the attendance secretary said the principal would call me in shortly. There went the questions again. What was going on? My heart raced. As soon as I stepped into the principal’s office, my heart dropped. Sitting in a chair, lividly glaring at me, was my mother. I could see it in her eyes: I was screwed. No one said a word but my vision started to blur as I teared up — my hands, lips and whole body shaking with fear. Growing up, school was never an issue for me. I loved it. I had perfect attendance, straight A’s, and my teachers always praised me. I won awards, including the Novato Inspirational Student Award, which goes to students who demonstrate the six C’s: collaboration, communication, critical thinking, conscientious learner, character and cultural competence.

Click on the MAGAZINE link in our bio to read the full article.

📝: T’Niya Williams
Graphics by Zoë Steiner

When nature calls, the porcelain pantheon is not just a place for relief, but one of respite from the chaos and hustle o...
12/16/2025

When nature calls, the porcelain pantheon is not just a place for relief, but one of respite from the chaos and hustle of the day. However, when that washroom is public, the experience can range from fantastic, to funny, to horror show.

As a public service to Santa Rosa Junior College, students and correspondents collaborated to find the bathrooms with the best ambience, amenities and location on the Santa Rosa Campus — or the lack thereof for future avoidance. Out of 10 reviewed student buildings, we picked six for their unique and stand-out environment.

Click on the MAGAZINE link in our bio to read the full article.

📝: Kevin Terlizzi-Bowes
📸: Adair Alvarez-Rodriguez

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Santa Rosa, CA
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