Lack of Inspiration? Not at SCC

I realized it's been a few weeks since my last post, and seeing as how I'm the "keeper of the SCC blogs," and it is my duty to get on their cases when it's been too long since their last post (which doesn't happen too often), I feel it is just as much my duty to lead by example... and at times I have failed to do so. The reason for my most recent lack of posts was due to a lack of inspiration. I haven't gone on any major trips (see Chicago or Okinawa) and nothing really exciting has happened to me since my birthday celebration week. And that's when I realized that my blog doesn't always have to be about me (and it hasn't... see "The Unsung Heroes" or "Never Too Late"), but instead could be about the people around me.

Monday, at 10:58 a.m. I tweeted " Looking for some inspiration for my next blog post... and drawing a blank for the first time since I've started blogging." And my inspiration hit me around 8:30 p.m. that night, smack dab in the face. All I needed to do was look around me for my inspiration... right here at SCC! DUH! There is so much going on around here right now, and so many things to be proud of, I'd be crazy NOT to post about SCC.

The fact is, there are people here at SCC, including faculty, students and staff that amaze me and inspire me every day.

THE FACULTY

Our faculty have been receiving a lot of awards lately! Joyce Lindstrom, SCC professor of Math, recently received the national-level 2010 William H. Meardy Faculty Member Award and the Central Regional Faculty Member Award by the Association of Community College Trustees. What an honor! According to our official news release, Joyce "was involved in a statewide effort to create an Associate of Arts in Teaching degree to ensure a seamless transition to four-year programs and she is a leader in innovative approaches to improve student success in mathematics."

Two other faculty members received state awards from the Missouri Community College Association, including Dr. William Griffin, professor of anthropology, for the Global Educator Award, and Ann Vernon, professor of science, for the Senior Faculty Service Award.

Not only do SCC's professors impress me on national and statewide levels, but on a personal level too. In my short 10 months here at SCC, I've developed quite a few relationships with our faculty members, and in every interview I conduct with an SCC student, I always here something positive about our professors, whether it's someone in particular, or our faculty as a whole.

THE STAFF

One does not need to look very far to see what an awesome staff we have at SCC. I could spend all day writing about all of the wonderful people I work with every day, but alas, I don't have that kind of time, and I have a feeling you don't either. So, I'll just name a few:

Dan Porter. If you don't read this guy's blog, then you need to start. Now. He is our SCC grounds supervisor, and he has some of the most interesting posts about plants, trees, bugs, wildlife and other random environmentally friendly topics (like going green!). He recently scared me with thoughts of "retiring" his blog, but I think I managed to convince to keep going for at least a little while longer! So check it out while you still can! :)

Ralph Hunter. While some of Ralph's daily efforts as a custodian may go unnoticed, his personality and smile do not. For 18 years, Ralph, 79, has been cleaning the halls of the SCC Administration Building, known to him as his second home. And Ralph is finally being rewarded for all of his years of hard work and dedication.

April Hoekenga, a coordinating counselor at SCC, along with more than 25 other members of SCC's faculty, staff and students, nominated Ralph for the 2010 Missouri Older Worker of the Year Award, and he won the St. Charles County Region award! In September, Ralph, April and his two daughters were treated to a tour of the Missouri State Capitol and an awards luncheon with Missouri's First Lady Georganne Nixon. Everyone at SCC is extremely proud of him. I wrote a full story about Ralph in our latest quarterly issue of the Chaz (and a news release will be posted next week). However, a few things of note I'd like to mention that weren't in the story or the news release about Ralph, thanks to the Welcome Center ladies, Jan and Linda:

When he's not working at SCC, Ralph lives on and runs a hog/cattle farm in Wentzville. And before he worked for SCC, Ralph used to work on the rail road. Ralph is also a pretty decent chef. His custodian's closet (located in the same hallway as Student Development) is covered in pictures, awards, emails, letters and newspaper clips about his last 18 years here at SCC. (I've seen it, it's pretty amazing.) Ralph may seem like a shy person, but once you get him talking, he's a very interesting guy and has lead quite a fascinating life. And if you ever ask Ralph how he's doing, you might catch a classic "Ralph-ism," such as, "I'm still kickin', but not as high as I used to," or "Same old soup, just warmed over."

So the next time you happen to be in the Administration Building, be sure to say hello and congratulate Ralph on his accomplishment and maybe you'll be lucky enough to hear one of his stories.

THE STUDENTS

And last, but certainly not least, who could forget the students? Without students, SCC wouldn't exist, we would have no purpose, there would be no faculty or staff. They are what make SCC what it is. And in my short time here, I've run in to quite a few unique students with amazing stories that they were thankfully willing to share (See "Never Too Late" or SCC Success Stories). One of the things I like most about my job here as a marketing specialist are the interactions I have with the students, either when I'm interviewing them for a possible testimonial or talking to them in a class setting.

In the last week and a half, I've been given the opportunity to speak in two classes, Linda Baenzinger's Intercultural Communication class and Darren Osburn's PR class, and I had a blast in both. In Linda's class, she asked me to talk about my trip to Okinawa and my experience growing up and learning about my heritage. I was a little nervous at first, but turns out the students were actually pretty interested in what I had to say and asked a TON of questions. I was having so much fun I didn't even realize I had been talking for an hour and a half when Linda said it was time for a break! Who knew writing a little story about my experience in Okinawa for the Global Pages, an SCC multicultural publication, would turn into such an engaging and fun discussion! (That's what inspired Linda to ask me to speak to her class.) I had a lot of fun sharing my stories with Linda and her class, and hopefully she'll invite me back next semester. :)

I spoke in Darren Osburn's PR class on Wednesday about my job, my career and what it was like transitioning from college to the real world. I tried to give them some tips on what classes to take, what to expect in the business world, and some of the major differences between working for an agency and an organization. I hope the students were able to get something through all of my ramblings. :)

Also can I just take a moment to mention how AWESOME our soccer teams are? The men's team recently went to the Region XVI championship for the first time. Although they came up just a couple goals short, they still had an excellent season and won a ton of awards (see photo). And the women's team is still going! They won the Region XVI championship last weekend and are playing today at noon against Lewis & Clark Community College in the semifinal round of the NJCAA District C Tournament in Council Bluffs, Iowa! Good luck to them! (They also cleaned up in the awards, see photo.)

I'd also like to share a few stories from some of the students I've had the opportunity of talking to, that I think are worth sharing.

John Ndungu. The name might sound familiar to you SCC folks because he is currently featured on the back of Chuck, our every-other-week newsletter. John approached me one day a few months ago asking how someone is featured on the website, and he mentioned he just moved here from Kenya. I got his phone number, and about a month ago I called him up and asked him to come in for an interview and photo shoot (our typical protocol for a potential testimonial) and I was extremely impressed by his journey from Kenya to America and how he ended up at SCC. He is currently working on his associate's degree in business and wants to get a bachelor's degree so that he can someday own his own business selling art. His sister also recently moved to America and is also enrolled at SCC. You can read John's full story in Chuck (which you can find on the tables in the Student Center Cafeteria, an online version will also go here soon).

Brryan Jackson. My boss actually first heard of him in a story she read in People Magazine, in a feature section called "Heroes Among Us." After reading his incredible story (really, you have to read it for yourself), she noticed that he is from St. Charles, and that he was a community college student. Ding, ding, ding! After realizing he is currently attending SCC, we knew we had to get his photo and story for a success story, as a blogger or for use in one of our publications. We still haven't decided what we're going to do with his story yet... but stay tuned, because it's pretty inspiring.

Evan Loveless. My boss also found him through an article he wrote for the Suburban Journals' Opinion Shaper's column. Although it's not live yet, Evan will soon be our newest member of the SCC blogging family. He is currently a freshman at SCC, and he's interested in journalism. He plans on going to Mizzou and enrolling in their J-School (School of Journalism). He's also currently involved in SCC's newspaper, the SCCougar as a columnist. He's a great writer and I'm looking forward to his posts as a fellow Cougar Blogger! I'll post his link once it goes live so you can check it out! (Update, 11/22/10: Check out Evan's blog.)

If I haven't proved to you what a great place SCC is to be, then I don't what else will make it any more clear. It's a great place to work, and an even better place to learn, and I'm inspired every day by everyone around me.

(I'd like to thank Ben Munson, SCC's photographer, for letting me borrow all of his awesome photos for my blog!)