Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 2, 2015)
Two year trumps four year? Advisers talk about the benefits of community college BY LILY SHAVER W hen you think of going to college, students or so; 1 can go up to the you picture old brick buildings and person and actually ask questions in grassy lawns sprinkled with laughing class,” said Marvin. Clackamas is also a good place for students on blankets planning secret parties that explode in campus dorm a fresh start. “ It’ s a place of second chances for rooms. Universities are also envisioned as a lot of students w ho m ight not be scary and big while sucking up all your accepted into a fo u r-year co lle ge ,” sàid Gwenda Richards Oshiro, a CCC m oney and time. People don’t think of quaint little academic adviser. community colleges first off. But tw o- CCC can b en e fit m any d ifferen t year colleges offer a stepping stone types of people, from m any different for those who dream of education and w alks o f life. “ There are people w ho are right furthering their goals. C lackam as C om m u n ity C ollege out of prison, folks w ho earned their has m any great benefits that cannot GED and can’t afford to go to a four- be found in a fo u r-ye ar college or year college, fo lk s w ho have ju st u n iversity. CCC is less exp en sive, im m igrated from another country. the class sizes are sm aller and the This is a place w here people have a approach is much more personalized. chan ce to access ed u cation ,” said Oshiro. RB Green, CCC’ s Veterans Services coordinator, said th a t com m u nity co lle ge has a m ore p erso n alized approach. “ There’ s a lot more focus on student success, and kind of tailoring services to the individual student,” said Green. “ [CCC] is a great place to get started, get on your feet, start succeeding, do well, and then gain th é confidence to go to a m ore challenging academ ic Lydia M arvin, a stud ent at CCC, environm ent.” tra n sferred fro m P ortlan d S tate Even college advisers agree that University where she had to deal with com m unity colleges, especially CCC, scien ce classes th a t w ere so large, are a good first choice. “ W e, as a school, really w an t to they had to m eet in an auditorium. There w as n ever a chan ce for her take th e tim e to get to kn ow our to talk w ith the professor o n e -o n - students and find out w hat it is that one, and she w as taught m ostly by each student needs to be successful,” said Ariane Rakich, an adm issions teachers assistants. “ T his year [at CCC], m y organic counselor at CCC. c h e m istry c la ss is o n ly lik e 20 "There's a lot more focus on student success, and kind of tailoring service to the individual student." 4 Clackamas Print DECEMBER 2.2015 theclackamasorint.com College president, former CCC student, offers advice BY DEBBIE FOX Clackam as C om m unity College President Joanne Truesdell gives solid advice to students: “ Always ask questions.” Truesdell learned this lesson first hand as a young student at CCC. Truesdell chose CCC because her em ployer right out o f high school told her not to return to work until she was registered for college. He told her specifically to go to Clackamas. She liked the school because people treated her well when she walked in. It would have b een easy to w alk away if people hadn’ t tried to help her. Truesdell started her college c a ree r a t CCC in 1980 and finished in 1982. “ Finances were a factor in the decision to attend Clackamas Com m unity College,” said Truesdell. She continued at Portland State U niversity from 1983 through 1985. The fall term of 1985, Truesdell was at PSU as an instructor for English as a Second Language. Truesdell then went to Lewis and Clark College seeking a m aster’ s degree in Public Administration. She pursued a m aster’ s degree from the U niversity of Portland in Business Administration from 1988 to 1991. In 1993, Truesdell began her doctorate d egree o f education at the University o f Oregon, and finished in 1997.
