Sometimes it seems like everyone who visits this campus sooner or later walks by my office door. I've seen every variety of student -- the 17-year-old kid with a hank of blond hair flopping over his eyes (he recently completed his GED) -- the young mom with a toddler in tow and an arm-load of anatomy textbooks.
The greatest thing is when I see a face I recognize from my weekly visits to our local unemployment office.
It's not easy to face the fact you have to find a new career when you're 30 or 40 or 50. As friendly as I think Mohave Community College is, I know it's not easy to walk into that admission's office and submit yourself to a college placement test decades after high school.
It takes a lot of courage and a lot of perseverance.
But I also know the payoff in the form of a better career and a more promising livelihood is waiting from them on the other side of their hard work.
I saw one of those students this week as he was waiting to see his counselor with REPAC, which assists dislocated workers to get the education and training they need to start new careers. I asked him how everything was going and he reported he was registered for a full load of classes at MCC.
"I'm nervous. Now I have to study," he said.
"You'll do fine," I said.
About the blogger
- Diana Parker
- I'm in my second year as the College Recruitment Officer, and it's gratifying to see so many of the people I helped get started here in classes and moving toward brighter futures. I'm a true education advocate, having earned a bachelor's degree in English from the University of New Mexico and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Utah. I've also worked in public relations and as a newspaper reporter and a librarian.
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