Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (May 29, 1996)
Students honored at graduation Pamela Sirianni News Editor The four students selected to be profiled at graduation are Laura Clark, Matt Jones, Cindy Youso and Amy Hanson. The students profiled are people who are an inspiration to others, have had to overcome diffi culties to obtain their education or have exceptional qualities. Twice a year nomination forms are given to instructors so they can nominate students who they feel are good candidates to be profiled at graduation. A selection commit tee, comprised of CCC staff and fac ulty, reviews the nominations and selects three to four students to be profiled. The committee tries to select a diverse group of people to be pro filed. They want a balance of males and females as well as students of different ages and walks of life. According to Becky Carnahan, administrative assistant to the dean of instructional ser vices, it is very difficult to select just a few students. “Every single one of [the nomi nees] are good choices,” said Carnahan. “We (the selection com mittee) think the people we have chosen will have an inspirational story to tell.” Laura Clark Laura Clark, a42-year-old draft ing student will be graduating with an AAS (Associate of Applied Sci ence) in Drafting Technology and a 3.3 GPA. Clark believes in the “if I can do it anyone can” attitude. At 16, Clark dropped out of high school to get married and have children. In April of 1994 she completed her GED. The following fall she began her college education in the draft ing program. David Madsen, department chair-drafting, has helped Clark make it through the tough times. “He’s one of the neatest guys,” said Clark. “If a student needs help and needs to talk to somebody he always has time.”. One of the aspects of Clacka mas that Clark enjoys is the involve ment of students. “I like that students are encour aged to get involved in things such as political issues and to be part of the college,” said Clark. After graduation Clark plans to find a job in the Drafting field. “My biggest love is architec tural,” said Clark. “There are differ ent types of drafting and I would like to test the waters in each type then eventually have my own busi ness.” Clark has two daughters. Dor othy is a 24-year-old nursing stu dent who is also graduating from Clackamas this year. Rachele is a 22-year-old student at Oregon State University who will also be gradu ating this year with a construction engineering degree. “I’m very proud of my girls,” said Clark. It has been difficult for Clark to get her college education, but she worked very hard to obtain her goals. “I didn’t quit,” said Clark. “I think that’s good for other people to remember, that they should stick to it and go forward ” Graduating this spring is the best and worst moment of Clark’s college experience. “It’s the best time because I’m being honored by being profiled and just being nominated is an honor,” said Clark. The difficult part of graduation for Clark will be saying goodbye to all her friends. “They’ve become my family and I’m going to miss every last one of them,” said Clark. In her spare time Clark likes to dance, garden, hike and fish. “I enjoy Country Western Dancing. I putter in my garden. I have a lot of hobbies,” said Clark. “I try everything. There is not a part of life that you shouldn’t try.” David Madsen nominated Clark as a student to be profiled at graduation partly because of her Photo by Joel Coreson Laura Clark is graduating with an AAS in Drafting Technology. strong work ethic. “She’s a top-notch person; top of her class and the ideal kind of a student because she’s such a hard worker and because she’s so dedi cated,” said Madsen. “I think she is a real inspiration to women as well as to everybody.” Matt Jones Matt Jones, a 20-year-old mu sic student, will be graduating with an AA (Associate of Arts) Oregon Transfer and a 3.7 GPA. Jones will be transferring to Willamette University to continue his education in vocal music edu cation. After college he would like Photo by Paul Ulmen Matt Jones is graduating with an A A Oregon Transfer. to use his knowledge of music to teach high-school students. The music department at Clackamas has provided Jones with many positive experiences. “I’m really surprised at how well they can present the classes,” said Jones. Currently, Jones lives with his parents, his 17-year-old brother and an exchange student from Germany. Jones says that living with an ex change student has taught him a lot “It’s been really interesting. There are a lot of different things I’ve learned from him, especially how to pronounce German the right way,” said Jones. Jones says that his parents have been very supportive of him. “They are really open to what I do. They’re open minded,” said Jones. This August, Jones will have the opportunity to spend two weeks in Estonia with the CCC Chamber Choir. They will be par ticipating with about 6000 other people in a song and dance festi val. The Chamber Choir will be the only non-Estonian group participat ing. “I’m really looking forward to it,” commented Jones. Jones will also be spending four days in Chicago this summer. He will be attending the National Puzzlers’ League Convention. Jones enjoys creating and playing all sorts of mind games, es pecially word games. He has been creating these games since he was 10 years old. On June 7, he will have his sec ond crossword puzzle published in the New York Times. This is quite an honor for Jones because “for crosswords it (New York Times) is considered the biggest name ever.” In order to get his crossword puzzles published, Jones wrote to the New York Times and submitted some of his work. At first his puzzles were rejected, but after some work Jones submitted a puzzle that was published. Now he has a second one that will be published. Jones also has his work pub lished regularly in a local monthly magazine called The Enigma as well as in The Print. In his free time Jones enjoys listening to music as much as pos sible. He enjoys most all types of music. “It ranges from Jazz music to a little bit of Classical...a smattering of everything,” said Jones. Lonnie Cline, music instructor, nominated Jones to be profiled be cause of his dedication to music. “Matt exemplifies everything that is special about America’s youth today. As a musician and a person, Matt always gives a hun dred percent as he continues to evolve on his academic and cre ative life’s journey,” said Cline. “It is with honor and pride that the CCC music department names Matthew Jones as one of its most outstand ing graduates.” Cindy Youso Cindy Youso, a 32-year-old nursing student, will be graduating with an AAS (Associate of Applied Science) in Nursing and a 3.6 GPA. Youso will be moving to Ari zona this summer where she will work towards becoming a Regis tered Nurse. She would like to work in the field of Psychiatric Mental Nursing and eventually work in Community Mental Health. Youso dropped out of high school to get married and start a family. In 1981 she completed her GED. Before Youso came to Clacka mas she spent a year going to li braries to study so she would be ready for the college placement test “I placed at college level and I took a lot of pride in that,” said Youso. When Youso was preparing to come to Clackamas she was afraid that she wouldn’t fit in. “When I came to Clackamas I didn’t think I was the typical stu dent but then I soon found out that I fit in,” said Youso. The diversity at Clackamas is something Youso really appreci ates. “That’s the wonderful thing about this college - the diversity,” said Youso. The Nursing Department as a whole has helped Youso get through the tough times. “There are some wonderful in structors here; they’re just the top notch,” said Youso. Lisa Fithian, nursing instruc tor, has been there to help Youso whenever she needed it. “She has been more like a friend and a mentor,” said Youso. Youso credits her husband Mark for keeping her going. When ever she tries to give up he pushes her forward again. ' ' fl il v. d Hl ■ J 'SV Photo by Chad Patteson Amy Hanson is graduating with an AA Oregon Transfer. “He’s really been the backbone to my whole support,” said Youso with a smile. The support of her family has made coming back to college easier. “There’s been a few times I’ve wanted to throw in the towel, but my family wouldn’t let me,” said Youso. Youso has three children. Her old est daughter Amy is 14, Shannon is 12 and Dustin is 9. “My children are number one. It hasn’t been easy. I was a very young mom; they keep me in line,” said Youso. The main reason Youso made the effort to come back to school was for her children. “I really wanted to go to col- Photo by Joel Coreson Cindy Youso is graduating with an AAS in Nursing. lege and I had to work really hard to get here, to even begin and to fin ish it,” said Youso. “One of the main reasons why I wanted to get through college was for my chil dren.” When Youso isn’t busy study ing for school or being a mom, she enjoys reading. “I’m a voracious reader,” said Youso. “I really like to read the clas sics.” She also enjoys listening to music, hiking and being outdoors. The instructors at Clackamas have been an inspiration to Youso. “The instructors are so good; they have such an excellent knowl edge base,” said Youso. Lisa Fithian commented as to why Youso is such a wonderful stu dent. “She is a lady who is extremely balanced. When Cindy is a nurse, I would be real proud to work along side of her,” said Fithian. “She is the embodiment of what we dream of in student.” Amy Hanson Amy Hanson, a 20-year-old English student, will be graduating with an AA (Associate of Arts) Or egon Transfer and a 3.4 GPA. Next fall, Hanson will transfer to Washington State University. She will be attending at the new campus in Vancouver. Hanson is planning to major in English, but she is still keeping an open mind to other possibili ties. Keeping busy is not a prob lem for Hanson. She is the Manag ing Editor for The Print and she carries a full-load of classes while working and maintaining a busy home life. The success Hanson has had at Clackamas can’t be credited to just one person. Loren Ford’s Per sonal Development and College Success Class has helped her to stay organized while Dan McCue and Diane Delvers helped her to get associated with the college. Linda Vogt has also been very helpful to Hanson’s success. One of Hanson’s favorite as pects of Clackamas is the diversity of people. “I’ve met a lot of different people in classes. There’s a good mixture of ages and backgrounds,” said Hanson. “People come from many different places, so you get different people’s views.” Hanson’s husband Scott has helped her get through the rocky times. “He’s been there to support me. At one time I felt that I couldn’t go on anymore and I was going to drop out, but he and my dad talked me out of it,” said Hanson. Pushing herself and working hard are ways that Hanson gets through college and her busy schedule. “I’ve always pushed myself to do things even though I didn’t want to,” said Hanson. An accomplishment Hanson is proud of is that she has stayed dedi cated to working on a newspaper. “Newspaper is probably the biggest thing I’ve done because I started that my sophomore year in high school,” said Hanson. Hanson likes to surround her self with other hard-working people. “People that are outgoing, like to have fun and aren’t afraid to do a little work to get things done,” said Hanson. This summer Hanson is going to continue to work and move into her new house. “I plan to get settled into my new home,” said Hanson with a smile. Smiling is something Hanson does a lot. It helps her get through the day. She likes the positive reac tions she gets from other people when she is smiling. Hanson would like people to remember her as “someone who is always willing and always smiling.” Linda Vogt, journalism instruc tor, finds Hanson’s leadership skills inspirational to others. “Amy is Managing Editor of The Clackamas Print and a leader of our newspaper staff,” said Vogt “She is an outstanding student who has completed her scholastic work here in two years, living indepen dently on her own. She’s married, and commutes from Vancouver...she’s very dedicated.”
