F eature
26, 2004
T he C lackamas P rint • 7
Aom of two juggles job, children
1AS
lessica LeClaire
4E
C lackamas P rint
th two kids and a career in
essing, student Adrianne
as, 2$j, finds time to attend
e in Border to eventually
: a career as an elementary
idle-sjchool teacher.
taugh| beauty school and 1
enjoyed it,” she said.
“Eventually I would like to
become a grade-school teacher
because I want to make a differ
ence in children’s lives.”
Going back to school has
been a great experience for
Thomas.
“It is fun to talk to my chil
dren about what I learn in
school,” said Thomas, who has
two sons, Simon, 9, and
Matthew, 7.
“If they have a
question about their homework,
I can tie it into something I
know and it helps me relate to
them more.”
The current status of the
economy has made her current
profession less enjoyable for
Thomas. According to Thomas,
a haircut is not a necessity to
most people these days.
“Thé hairdressing profession
has changed,” said Thomas. “It
is not the same industry as it was
when I went into it.”
Thomas is attending CCC in
order to get her AAOT degree
and will transfer to Portland
State University. She has been at
the college for one year.
“I have really enjoyed attend
ing CCC,” said Thomas.
“I
enjoy the variety of the students
as well as the different perspec
tives of the younger students.”
While at Clackamas, Thomas
has come across many instruc
tors that she has enjoyed taking
classes from. The two that have
had the most influence, she said,
were her sociology ,sequence
instructor Karen Lamborn, as
well as her science sequence
instructor Bob Misley.
“I admire [Karen] Lamborn;
she is a really great person,” said
Thomas.
“[And] I like Bob
Misley because I love his dynam
ic teaching style. 1 am really
looking forward to the Fort
Clatsop trip that our science
class has coming up.”
According to Thomas, life is
what one chooses to make of it
and when times get hard, one
just has to push through them.
“My advice to other mothers
that are going through school
right now is not to overload.
Use all the resources available to
you,” said .Thomas. “College is
ISAIAH CREEL C lackamas P rint
Thomas finds time to take a break from her studies
and spend some quality time with a cuddly friend.
set up today so that you can do
anything you want to do.
Anything is possible.
takes time.”
It just
ebmaster Walch works computer kung-fu at Clackamas
3ethany Monroe
IE
C lackamas P rint
ile browsing for classes, hunt
graduation details or checking
online, [ CCC students have
member Dean Walch to
"or making a host of campus
ation »vailable with a few
if a mpuse.
the website coordinator for
lleg^K^alch is in charge of
ning Clackamas’ main web
well as assisting departments
-eir individual sites. He also
nedia presentations for the
nt’s'office.
:ch has been working for
>1 lege off and on since
but his time at Clackamas
as a student.
actually was a high school
ut and got my adult high
school diploma here,” said Walch.
SpongeBob SquarePants doll and a
Walch transferred to Marylhurst variety of other amusing items,
University, where he majored in art, Walch’s office is far from drab.
after studying for a
“I’ve always sur
few more years at
rounded
myself
“Ijust felt that
Clackamas,
with toys for
[CCC] did so
Once he earned
some
reason,”
his degree, Walch
said Walch. “I
much for me that
taught at Marylhurst
think it just makes
it’s really an
and ran his own
people
more
business. Eventually,
relaxed when they
honor to come
he was drawn back
come in.”
back and work
to Clackamas.
Aside from his
^*“1 just felt that
work at the col
and help out
[CCC] did so much
lege, Walch is an
other students, ”
for me that it’s really
active member of
an honor to come
the Oregon City
Dean Walch
back and work and
community.
Website Cooridantor
help out other stu
Tim Powell, who
dents,” Walch said.
co-chairs
the
Walch now occupies an office in McLoughlin
Neighborhood
Barlow Hall. Filled with a candy Association along with Walch, nom
machine, a Mr. Potato Head figure, a inated him for the Hearts and Hands
Award, which recognizes outstand
ing volunteers in the community.
“[Dean Walch] is an inspiration
to the neighborhood and the com
munity,” Powell wrote on the
nomination form. “[He] not only
works in the neighborhood to
make it a better place, he is
involved
with
the
Citizen
Involvement Committee as well,
working to make Oregon City as a
whole a better place ... Dean is a
tremendous leader and deserves the
thinks of his entire community.’.’
Walch was recently honored,
along with about fifty other volun
teers, for their work in the com
munity by the Clackamas County
Volunteer Connection. As an
Oregon native who grew up on a
farm in Molalla, Walch’s commit
ment to his home state runs deep.
“I’ve traveled quite a bit in the
states,” Walch said. “But I’ve never
found a better place than the
Willamette Valley to live.”
WLstudent on the road to her dream as future paramedic
lilliary Ferguson'
ie C lackamas P rint
th one year of the
jency ICare Technician
) program under her belt,
it Jessie Thompson is
ever nearer to a career as
¡medic.
; decision to be a para-
was, for her, one made
e just been drawn to health
Ince I was in high school,”
nompson.
:e her training began, she
Joyed the rush of getting
!, quickly working with
■: to diagnose their ail-
arid knowing what to do
: j
JPSON
in emergency situations.
After taking a long list of sci
ence, health and math classes,
Thompson now holds the rank of
EMT Basic. It may sound glam
orous, but the title mainly allows
her to drive stable patients from
facility to facility in a wheelchair
van. In addition, Thompson has
been trained in airway manage
ment, assistance in labor, bandag
ing and splinting wounds, spinal
immobilization and rescue.
These skills have come in
handy a couple of times when
Thompson was called into action.
“At church, a 16-year-old boy
got hit over the head with a metal
pipe and split his scalp open. I
was able to stop the bleeding and
calm his mother dowri. She was
flipping out worse than he was!”
Thompson said.
Another
incident
when
Thompson’s training was- called
upon occurred on 1-205, where
she Came upon an accident.
Before the paramedic arrived, she
was able to stabilize the victim’s
spine in order to prevent further
injury. The amazing part is that
she did this with her bare
hands—not the traditional neck
brace paramedics have.
Within
the
next
year,
Thompson plans to receive her
EMT Intermediate.
“Besides [EMT] Basic abilities,
I’ll be able to give IVs, put a tra
cheotomy in and give some med
ications,” said Thompson, “but
what I’m going for is my EMT
certificate.”
The EMT certificate proves
that the holder has taken all of
the classes and prerequisites nec
essary to attend school for her
paramedic degree. Thompson
hopes to go to OHSU.
“When you’re a medic, you’re
basically in a moving hospital.
You can do everything a doctor
can do,” said Thompson.
Aside from being a lot of
work, the path towards becoming
a paramedic has rendered some
interesting
experiences
for
Thompson.
Recently, she played the victim
for training exercises called Mass
Casualty Incidences (MCI) drills,
during which police and fire
departments learn how to quickly
arid effectively handle a large-
scale •disaster.
“We [acted] like victims of a
bombing so the fire and police
department could learn to man
age a [mass casualty] scene. I
was a victim very close to the
bomb; I had an open fracture to
my fight arm and a leg injury,’’
Thompson recalled.
Thompson plans to get her
EMT certificate within a year,
and finish her paramedic degree
in two. Last week, Thompson was
honored to receive the Randall
Carpenter Scholarship worth
nearly $1,000.
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