Pg. 4 The Clackamas Print Wednesday, May 5, 1993 National event helps break limits on girls by Melissa Freels Co-Editor-in-Chief “I think girls ... and boys, too, are limited by what other people think they can do,” said Peggy Falkenstein, who works at the college’s Harmony Center, as she addressed approximately 25 girls at the “Take Our Daugh ters to Work Day” luncheon, April 28. Falkenstein, who brought her daughter Emily to Clackamas, was fairly accurate in her state ment — in fact, she was right on key. “Take Our Daughters to Work Day” at Clackamas, which was sponsored by Focus on Women and The Clackamas Print, was all about breaking those gender based stereotypical limits. The event coincided with the nation wide project initiated by the Ms. Foundation. So on April 28, among the college’s students and staff, were girls ranging from preschoolers tohighschoolers. Some attended classes with the adults and got a “feel” for college courses, while others assisted adults with their jobs and received experience in the workforce. Whatever they did at Clacka mas on “Take Our Daughters to Work Day,” most of the girls embraced the event with enthusi asm and curiosity. “We got tours and we’ve been filing papers... and we went to a meeting this morning/’ said Ni cole Mombell, 12, who came to Clackamas with Dian Connett, the college’s dean of instructional services. Julie Connell, 13, who also visited the college with Connett, explained that the day was edu cational. She spent part of the day interviewing staff members and exploring different career op portunities. The information that ence. “I helped teach a class with my aunt,” Jenny said. She found this interesting because of the diversity of cul- turesrepresentedintheclass. The students in Williams’ ESL class come from countries that include Korea, Mexico, China, Romania, to go to her journalism classes,” Puntney said with a smile. In addition, Bill Symes, di rector of communication and marketing, brought his daughter Anna, who is a student at Grant High School.’ While the event gave girls a chance to view the opportunities Photo by Heidi Branstator April 28 was "Take Our Daughters To Work Day." Several of the college’s staff and students brought young girls ranging in age from preschool to high school. she gathered will be compiled in a report for school — that was her assignment for missing an entire day of class. Molly Williams, English as a Second Language instructor, brought her niece Jenny, who received some teaching experi Iran and India. Emily Puntney, 10, and Anna Swalko, 10, joined Journalism Instructor Linda Vogt, who initi ated “Take Our Daughters to Work Day” at Clackamas. “We’re going to go to the book sale and I think we’re going in the workforce, it also allowed them to make a connection with their parent’s job. This event takes the mystery out of “work” or “college,” which may seem like mere words to the girls. “I wanted to see what my mom’s job was like,” explained Ann Stocks, 12, who visited CCC with her mother Sara Simmons. Simmons is the secretary of the college’s research department. Stocks spent some of her time Wednesday helping her mom stuff envelopes. At noon, many of the adults and girls gathered in the Gregory Forum for a hot dog luncheon. During the luncheon, which was provided by the Dean of Stu dents’ Office, many of the adults spoke and gave encouragement to the girls. “If you feel , inside of you that you can do it... that’s some thing you should listen to,” Falk enstein told the girls. For Puntney, who aspires to be a horse trainer, for Brittany Green, 13, who wants to be an architect, and for some of the others who dream of careers in law, medicine or oceanography, Falkenstein’s statement offered inspiration. Following the luncheon, some of the girls took part in a scaven ger hunt. Despite the rain, the girls hurried around campus searching for answers to ques tions like, “Who is the instructor at Clackamas who published a poetry book titled, ‘Branches Doubled Over With Fruit’?” or “What is the quote by Emily Dickinson on the courtyard foun tain?” Such questions emphasized the fact that women can be suc cessful, not only at Clackamas, but in life in general. •Reporting also by Tracey Roozenboom Student rebuilds life after seven weeks in coma by Robert A. Hibberd Co-Editor-in-Chief There are many success sto ries at Clackamas. John Johnson, 30, is one of them. Johnson is about to receive his certificate in ornamental horticulture and close another chapter in an amazing recovery. Six years ago, Johnson was in his Buick LeSabre heading for another day of work at a cherry orchard in The Dalles, when he suddenly began experiencing severe headaches. Of this day, Johnson only knows what people have told him because he has no memory of the events that tran spired. “Almost as soon as I got to work, I was complaining about bad headaches,” said Johnson. “My foreman called my mom who worked for a doctor at the time. 1 “My mom picked me up and took me to the Dalles General Hospital. The doctors there said* ‘get him to Portland quick,' ” - said Johnson. “The life flight was being used at the time so we had to take an ambulance.” Johnson was rushed to Good Samaritan Hospital where sev eral neurologists were assigned to look him over; Johnson was diagnosed with a brain stem aneurism. “They put a shunt in my head,” said Johnson. “It’s a tube that goes up from the base of my skull, across the side of my head and down into my stomach. It’s not visible to the outside world and it will be there for the rest of my life.” Johnson went into a coma and remained in a coma for the entire seven weeks that he spent at Good Samaritan Hospital. The doctors felt strongly that Johnson would not live. They began to ask Johnson’s parents if they wanted him taken off life support systems. “They kept giving me only two days to live, but I kept hang ing on,” said Johnson. “They kept on saying to my parents ‘What do you want to do with him?’ ” His parents decided to take him back home to The Dalles. Johnson regained control of his memory on the ambulance ride back home. “The ambulance guys were sitting there telling stupid jokes. I was laying there on this gurney listening to the guys tell stupid jokes,” Johnson recalled of his memory. “I couldn’t move. I couldn’t talk. I was a vegetable but I could hear and J could think. Then we got to the nursing home,” he said. Johnson would spend the next 18 months at the Columbia Basin Nursing Home. .He could only moves his eyes for the first year of his stay at the home. Johnson developed a system in order to communicate with his parents and the people at the home. “I came up with this blink system that consisted of: one blink for ‘yes’ and two blinks for ‘no’,” recalled Johnson. “Through the system, I was able to communi cate.” Johnson’s recovery consisted of a series of slow and slight improvements that lasted over the course of his last six months at the home. “My first spoken word was ‘mom’,” said Johnson. “From that point, I started getting better each day. Something would happen like I could move my arm or I could move my leg a little bit. It was all too cool.” Then came the time when Johnson was ready to begin learn ing how to walk for the second time in his life. “When I first started, I took one or two wobbly steps with the help of nurses on both sides of me,” recalled Johnson. “I had to learn how to do everything over again. It was as though I was just starting life.” It was at this time that Johnson’s doctors realized that he had Parkinson’s Disease. The diagnosis helped aid Johnson in his recovery because the doctors now knew exactly what they were dealing with. Johnson continued with his recovery. He underwent serious physical, occupational and speech therapy. Once Johnson was well enough, he entered a landscape maintenance program in Portland. “It was there that I really started looking into what I wanted to do with the rest of my life,” said Johnson. “I realized that I would need further education if I were to live comfortable while doing what I like to do, which is had to re-learn all of the skills that people usually take for granted. work in the field of horticulture.” Johnson enrolled into Clacka mas' Ornamental Horticulture pro gram. He has been taking classes at the college ever since. Johnson is now only a few credits away from receiving his certificate in Ornamental Horticulture. “School is very challenging for me because I still have a poor memory,” said Johnson. “I’ve had a note-taker for almost all my classes.” Johnson has learned a lot about plant life and enjoyed many rewarding experiences while at tending Clackamas. One of the more exciting experiences for Johnson happened when he was chosen from his class to plant a design garden. “I stayed up until 3 a.m. designing my garden,” recalled Johnson of last year’s effort. “I got mine picked. It was very challenging because you have to be the supervisor of your gar den.” Johnson has received praise from his instructors. About Johnson’s future? “I’m really not sure,” said Johnson. “It seems like such a long ways away. My ultimate goal is to have my own landscape maintenance company.” Johnson wants his company to be more focused on doing good work as opposed to doing more work. “I’m more concerned about doing good-quality work, rather than just concentrating on a lot of quantity,” said Johnson.