Student Success Stories...
Each quarter, we select students of diverse backgrounds and experiences to tell the many stories of success at Centralia College. Read their words and post a comment on our centraliacollegetalks blog, Student Success @ Centralia College.
"It's absolutely the best I could have asked for…I can be qualified to enter the accounting field right away, and all of my credits can be transferred to a four-year college…a big jump in reaching my goals."
John Heller
John Heller is a returning second-year Centralia College student from Shelton. "Actually," he admits, "I was born in Shelton and graduated from high school there, but we moved around a lot. I was an Army brat," Heller grinned. For the next twenty years, Heller lived a life of hard work and high adventure. "I was a commercial crabber and salmon fisherman in Alaska," he explained. "I served in the Merchant Marine, and when I came back to the Northwest I started working in construction, building trades, and hard physical labor."Times were good, according to Heller, and the money sufficient, if not of the "get-rich-quick" kind. And then one day, stepping down from the back of a construction rig, Heller slipped and seriously fractured his foot. His days on the high seas and in big construction were over. He had to find a new career.
International student & world-class biker, Yamaguchi chose CC to learn English & fulfill dreams of a career in journalism or the international arena.
Kenta Yamaguchi
Busy fulfilling his life's dreams and goals, Kenta Yamaguchi is finding challenges everywhere he can. The twenty-seven year old Yamaguchi is a Centralia College International student from Japan. Since arriving in the United States three years ago, Yamaguchi has been studying at Centralia College. He came to Centralia College with a bachelor's degree from a Japanese university and five years work experience as a Japanese licensed real estate agent. However, he did not speak English and that is what he wanted to learn to do.Yamaguchi chose Centralia College because of the English studies programs. Through the college's International Club, his friends suggested that he seek a work study opportunity helping with children at the Centralia College Children's Lab. He used this opportunity as an additional way to enhance his daily English learning regime.
"I think you need to challenge yourself, engage the professors, read the material, and do the work. Do that and success will be yours."
Victoria Stewart
She is a renaissance woman who looks with anticipation at the wide-open canvas of her life. There is so much to do, so much that piques her curiosity. She likes the possibilities. The foundation for what Victoria Stewart will do has been laid with her life's experience and now with the associate in arts degree she just earned, a tool that will open more doors of opportunity. It would have been easy to assume she would enter college bent on earning a degree in journalism. She is, after all, a freelance writer/photographer for The Chronicle and for DeVaul Publishing, has served as a writer for and managing editor of the Lewis County News, and wrote and edited the Legionnaire the Washington state American Legion newsletter. At Centralia College she served as the editor and photographic designer of Beyond Parallax, a showcase publication primarily for student-generated literary and artistic talent. One of her poems and, augmenting her display of talent, several pieces of her photographic art were included in the publication.
"We have talked with teachers and students and we are anxious to start college here."
Jibril Gude, Samuel Dafala, Marco Kila
When classes resume in September, Centralia College will welcome three young men from Sudan. When Jibril Gude, Samuel Dafala, and Marco Kila enter their classrooms, they will write a very different chapter in their ongoing story.During the pre-dawn darkness at an isolated cattle camp in northeast Sudan, life changed for those three young teenagers in the blink of an eye. A band of armed, militant Arab Muslims swarmed into the camp with guns, knives, and machetes and began targeting anyone who moved. There was a bloody civil war underway—North versus South—and the Muslim rebels were intent on enforcing the North's Islamic Law. Black Sudanese in the cattle camp were mostly Christians whose allegiance lay with the African population to the south. Jibril, Samuel, and Marco, caught in the deadly firestorm, did the only thing they knew; the trio ran for their lives. How they ran. They didn't slow their pace until they had outdistanced a handful of pursuers late that day—and still they ran!
"Centralia College is a quality school and the Energy Technology program has a great reputation."
Ben Clary
Ben Clary, an Energy Technology student, trains using electronic equipment donated to the college by John Fluke Manufacturing, tools that enhance his training. A resident of Napavine, Clary is returning to Centralia College to earn his degree and receive training for a career in Energy Technology."Careers in the energy field are stable and the pay is very good," said Clary. "This is something that will work for me for a long time." He said Centralia College offers the program that would lead to a secure career in a solid field. He worked out a schedule with his instructors to get the training he needs while keeping his regular job. "Centralia College is a quality school and the Energy Technology program has a great reputation," he said. He also appreciates the opportunity to use quality equipment donated by Fluke as part of his training. "It's important to be able to use equipment that gives accurate readings," he said. This is the same equipment he will likely use when he converts his training to a real job. They are tools he can use to his advantage.