Admission for bigger dreams

Christine kept her big smile while shuffling through the photos on her desk. Besides family member pictures, she also kept the photos that were sent to her from students.

“I have worked here for sixteen years, and I still learn new things everyday at work and from students,” said Christine Baker.

Baker, the recruiter at the Admission and Registration office, has been recognized as a passionate supporter by many local and international students.

Baker works in the Admission and Registration Office at
LBCC in Albany

The Admission office at LBCC helps students with questions of applications, registration, scholarships and other campus related questions. The receptionists can also redirect students to specific departments and give out useful contacts information.

Although the office work sounds repetitive, Baker enjoys every minute of it. 

Baker's compassion and sympathy helped her to build strong relationships between students and her. Many international students were comfortable sharing their problems with baker despite their language barriers.  

"Look, this one was sent to me from Europe, this was her wedding," Baker showed me her photo collection from students "and this one was from Dubai, he's a singer with a business degree from here."

In the past, Baker was invited to students' weddings, engagement ceremonies, and graduations. 

She was amazed by students achievements, and it surprised her of how much her understanding and trust helped them to confront difficulties.

Besides students, school administrates appreciated Baker's efforts by presenting her the Analee Fuentes Award during the 5th Annual Unity Celebration. Baker was surprised and too humble to put up the award until her supervisor requested her to.

“The greatest part of this job is when I watch students graduate or transfer to other schools to achieve their dreams,” said Baker.

Because LBCC accepts students from all over the world, Baker believes that it is important to have a global perspective when communicating with applicants.

“Internationalizing is not only for campus growth, but also to learn from others and enrich ourselves,” Baker said “By sharing, we are not that different. We all have different experiences to contribute and we can always grow.”

“For American student, I hope they think about some opportunities of studying abroad like the international students we have here.” Bake pointed out some popular programs and hope LBCC will have similar programs in the future.

Speaking from her own experience, Baker has traveled to several other countries in Europe.

“I understood of how people live outside of the country,” Baker joked “however, the key is to remember a few basic words of the local language before you take off. Words like ‘bathroom,’ ‘please,’ and ‘thank you’ would definitely help you with surviving abroad.”

China Night and CAOSU

Even though China has gained plenty of international attention in recent years, it was the late 20th century when China first experienced Western pop music and faster economic growth.

China Night begins with a short film introducing Chinese culture.
Photos by Zhen Hua

On Saturday night, the Chinese Association of Oregon State University (CAOSU) hosted China Night at the LaSells Steward Center, both to celebrate the year of horse and to present Chinese culture to the community.

“This is an annual event and biggest event of our association. It’s funded by ISOSU, the International Students of Oregon State University,” said Cheng Li.

Li, the co-president of CAOSU, has been leading the association for two years. He is also a PhD student in biological engineering at OSU.

Different from previous leaders, Li wants to help CAOSU to be more culturally representative and active. China Night, as part of his plan, has been improved from old styles and performances.

Each year, CAOSU tries to plan China Night with a different perspective. This year, the 2014 China Night had a unique theme of time traveling. Audiences were brought back to the 20^th century by many special performances from that era.

“Many people are unfamiliar with Chinese culture in the 20^th century,” said Li. “However, the developments that occurred in that time phase is what made us who we are today. It’s a generation of working hard, it’s a generation of opening minds, and it’s a generation of Michael Jackson and Britney Spears.”

The 20^th century was a revolutionary time for Chinese policy and economics. Li was born in the late '80s and grew up in the '90s. He expressed his love and thankfulness to people who have contributed to build the China we see today.

Dedicated to the pop music culture, which has influenced that generation, members from CAOSU choreographed a dance routine with “Love Story” by Britney Spears. The association also invited the OSU Hip-Hop Club for a Michael Jackson-influenced dance.

“Although our focus this year is on the 20^th century, I still want to show people our traditions,” said Li.

Jueyi Zhang (left) and Yichuan Tian play "Jasmine" on
traditional instruments.  Photos by Zhen Hua

Yichuan Tian, a CAOSU member, played a traditional instrument, a Gu’zheng. Tian also coordinated a classical music piece called "Jasmine" with Jueyi Zhang, who played a different traditional instrument called an Er-Hu.

“We are happy that more people came this year. We only had about 800 in the audience last year, but this year, there were at least 1100.” Li and his CAOSU crew are excited about the improvement. “All our hard work and time investments paid off.”

“CAOSU represents not only Chinese students on campus, but also Chinese culture and China,” said Li. “Although China Night is a New Year celebration for Chinese students, the goal is also to bring other cultures together to interact.”

Based on this idea, the association reached out to the OSU Glee Choir, and the choir performed a Chinese folk song named "Let Us Paddle."

In addition to China Night, the association raises money every fall term to help poor Chinese children continue attending school.

In May 2013, the earthquake southwest of Sichuan Province in China left hundreds of people injured and homeless. Without hesitation, CAOSU set up a fund-raising booth on campus and raised $1466.39 for victims and families.

At a glance:

Chinese Association of OSU
What: CAOSU is an on-campus social group involving students from China.

Meeting: Wednesday at 7:30pm, at different locations
For more information: http://groups.oregonstate.edu/caosu/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chinese-Association-of-Oregon-State-Univerisity/437186776337960

The Writing Center at LBCC

The Writing Center at LBCC in Albany offers academic support on writing papers for any class. It can be a paper for WR 121, a research paper for science class, or a resume for applying job.

“My assistants are all very professional at what they do, and they love to help students with their papers,” said Victoria Fridley.

Fridley, the Writing Center Coordinator at LBCC, has been leading the program to grow for five years. She is also teaching WR 115 this term.

To help other students and coordinate the Writing Center, Fridley comes with a strong English and writing background. After Fridley gained her B.A. in English from California State University, Fresno, she was pursuing her M.F.A in the theatre’s playwriting program at the University of California in Davis.

Community social events are also party of Fridley’s interests. She has worked for non-profit arts organizations, directed the Da Vinci Days and the Corvallis Arts Center.

As much of a good writer Fridley is herself, it is also her passion to help others to be good and better at writing. “You know,” Fridley said “it’s just very rewarding to see students improve, and I’m privileged to experience this everyday.”

The Writing Center has a well-structured process to help students with papers. There are drop in hours, 30-minutes appointments, and OnlineWriting Lab (OWL). The OWL is an online program where students can simply submit their papers on a home computer and receive feedbacks from writing tutors in less than 24 hours during weekdays.

Students do not have to be enrolled in writing classes to use the Writing Center resources. The assistants offer tutoring for any type of paper or maybe a few comments on the style and structure.

“Any writer needs an editor, not only for mistakes, but also to gain different perspectives,” said Fridley.

To be an assistant at the Writing Center is not as easy as it seems. The job not only require you as a good writer, but also a good listener and counselor.

Some students are not so confident about their writing, and some students are afraid to share their words with other. This is a communication skill required of the tutors at the Writing Center to make sure to encourage students and not to laugh at their writing pieces.

“Many students are nervous and vulnerable when sharing their writing. Even if they don’t say, you can still tell from their gestures,” said Fridley “so we have our assistants read the work to students instead of the vise-versa. This way, students also find some grammar mistakes just by listening to others reading it.”

Fridley loves her job, and she wishes she can do more for students, “we don’t have a big capacity of staff, and I hate to see students come and not be able be helped.”

When the quarter is close to dead week especially, the Writing Center helps more students than usual. Many times, the tutors don’t have time to take breaks between helping students.

“It’s a dream of mine to make the Writing Center more accessible and covers more areas,” said Fridley ”for the COMM 111 class, I’d love to have a specific session or a practice room available for student; so that they wouldn’t be too nervous when they present in front the class. ”

The Writing Center is only school-funded. In the future, Fridley hopes that the Writing Center can grow to be more mature and reach out to the community.

Additional Info:

Writing Center

Lebanon Learning Center (LC-202)

Mon-Fri, 9am-noon, 12:30pm-3:30pm

Parent students face challenges while attending LBCC

Students who are parents face additional challenges in college by learning how to balance family life and academics.

“I want to show my son no matter how late it is, it’s never too late to start it. Just never give up,” said Amanda Turcott. Turcott’s best friend, Lonnie Eyler, later added, “Higher education leads to better opportunities, a better career, and better pay.”

Turcott, a single parent of her five-year old son Tyson, is attending her second year at LBCC to complete her bachelor degree in Culinary Arts. Lonnie Eyler, who has a four-year old daughter Nakia, is also a sophomore at LBCC pursuing her bachelor degree in business.

Unlike other traditional students, Turcott and Eyler face more challenges when going to college. Working hard for them not only means being a good student and doing homework, it also means finding balance between school and family.

Between school schedules, family, childcare, after-school activities, group meetings, and on campus involvements, Turcott and Eyler are trying their best to balance them all and avoid being another stereotype of how student-parents can achieve an education.

At first, Turcott came back to school and finished her GED. This brought her potential to the surface and she realized how much more she could do to provide her son a better life. Eyler also started attending college with the same motivation. She simply wants the best for her daughter no matter what it takes.

However, to commute between parenting and attending college at the same time is not an easy job, and many parents are facing similar situations here at LBCC.

Time management and financial conditions are the two major challenges. Parents often work part-time. This leaves them no time to attend school activities and group projects. In many cases, parents sometimes have to sacrifice spending time with families to make more money.

“It’s easily $2000 every month,” Turcott said. Eyler agreed. Both Turcott and Eyler gave up on working during school time, and rely on financial aid because they don’t want to eliminate the time to spend with their children.

“Finding your own personal time to do homework is my biggest challenge," Turcott said.

 She always makes sure that she is on top of school work and not neglecting her son. He is at an age where he needs her undivided attention, said Turcott.

“I work in summers to support our living expenses," she said.

Their children Tyson and Nakia are preschool age and enrolled in Kidoco Head Start. This is a free on-campus education program to assist families on early child development. It is divided into an "early" Head Start program and the Head Start program.

Head Start has four classrooms on the LBCC Albany campus. With the “open door” policy, parents can check on their kids anytime. The building also opens an area for parents to do homework and relax from the day. The early Head Start family advocate serves 10 families at her home. In total, LBCC's Head Start program serves 72 children.

“We are federally and state funded, so we prioritize LBCC students, but also reach out to the community,” said Christina Nese, the site supervisor at Kidco Head Start. “We use creative curriculum, and really focus on education development. We also serve kids with special needs.” 

“Being a parent student is hard, but just remember to never be afraid to ask for help,” Turcott said. “The staff and secretary here are wonderful.”

Turcott and Eyler are thankful for Kidco Head Start.

However, Turcott is worried about what's next, “Tyson is five right now, and he will start kindergarten next fall. I will have to work harder or maybe get a part-time job to pay for child day care, so I can still be a full-time student here and complete my degree as soon as possible.”

At a glance:
Kidco Head Start
Phone: 541- 451-1581
Website: www.kidcoheadstart.org
E-mail: cnese@kidcoheadstart.org
Address: Periwinkle Center, 6500 Pacific Blvd. SW, Albany, OR 97321

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