Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (April 18, 2018)
Farewell to Joanne Truesdell Joanne Truesdell announced on March 9,2017 that she is stepping down from her position as president here at Clackamas Community College. The Clackamas Print conducted an exit interview with Joanne Truesdell and asked her to talk about her time at CCC, as well as her future plans. Lori Hall, the Public Information Officer for CCC, sat in on the interview. STORY AN D PHOTQ BY JARED PREBLE ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR The Clackamas Print: What has been one of your favorite accomplishments as president? Joanne Truesdell:! think my favorite accom plishment is getting our Veterans Education and Training Center recharged. Our students who access the Vet Center often don't have a place, and didn’t have a place to go pretty much ajl,in Oregon. So, it was good during the deployment and then the reintegration for us to have stepped up and taken that level of ser vice to people who’ve served the country. TCP: What path in education did you take that resulted in earning the title of Doctor? JT: Oh, great! My first degree, 1982 from Clackamas Comrhunity College. My last degree, 1997, from Oregon State University. I worked my way through college, and by that, I mean I worked full time and went to'school full time. Lori Hall: Share your story about how you came to CCC. JT: I came to CCC, I was out of high school and I was working and didn’t know that col lege would be an option for me. I was em ployed and my supervisor, my director, in about February after graduation, so about nine months later, he was trying to figure out why I wasn’ t in school because all of their children were away to college and so, why not me? I said lot’ s of things4ike “ I don’ t have enough money,” “ Because I don’ t think it’s an option for me,” “ I’ve heard people say that people . like me don’t go to college,” that kinda thing. Anyway, he said tohome up to Clackamas and learn how to go to college or don’t come back to work. That was how I took it. He might not have said that literally, but at 19, that’ s how 1 took it. So, Tcame up here, and 1 sat in the parking lot for about 40 minutes trying to figure out, every excuse possible about why I didn’ t go in and what I could tell him -things that I knew he wouldn’ t believe. And then I went into the Community Center which looked pretty sim ilar to the Community Center we have now and I met someone who actually acted and said things that made it kind of normal that I would, of course be interested in attending college, why wouldn’t I? So, I got what I need ed when I came into a friendly environment and I stayed. It took a lot to stay, so it’ s not President Truesdell sporting her first degree which she received from Clackamas Community College in 1982. She received her last degree in 1997 from Oregon State University.
