Brenda Fox

The summer of 2004 was a time of many changes for Brenda. First, her job of 21 years was outsourced to India; then, two weeks after her job ended, she began taking classes at Highland Community College. At first, she was overwhelmed and wondered how she would manage to take care of all her responsibilities: school, homework, family, and a part-time work-study job on campus. But she did manage, and in fact she got even busier when she was elected by her peers to be the Student Trustee for Highland Board of Trustees during the 2005-06 school year. She said it was a matter of rethinking her priorities; there wasn't time for activities like hobbies.

Brenda stated that she was a "C" student in high school, but at Highland she earned excellent grades and was a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. She graduated with honors May 20 with Associate of Applied Science degree in Office Technology and Information Word Processing. Two days later, she started her new job at Medallion Cabinetry in Lanark. "I love it!" she said of her new job.

Brenda enjoyed her time at Highland. "Every teacher I had encouraged me," she said, "and all of the advisors were very helpful." She said that everyone in Project Succeed was very friendly and helpful, and we provided "a shoulder to cry on." She also took advantage of services provided by Project Succeed: math tutoring, tickets for cultural events and academic advising. Her advice to students, particularly returning adult students who may have been out of school for a long time, is "Don't be intimidated, and don't let it overwhelm you. Always ask questions! No question is a stupid question."

Julie Baysinger

Julie graduatd in May with an Associate of Arts degree, and she has already started working on her Bachelor of General Studies degree at Columbia College. Although she doesn't know exactly what career she'll pursue, she does know that she would like to work at Highland!

Julie originally started taking classes at Highland in the late 1980's; she came back in 2003 and attended part-time each semester so that she could devote enough time to both school and her family. Julie is married, and has two daughters, sixteen and seven, and three cats(one is a whopping 32 pounds!). She said that school was stressful, but she loved learning and the challenges involved.

Among her best experiences at Highland were meeting new people and making new friends; she enjoyed being able to discuss classes with them and offer each other support. Julie loves history, and her favorite instructors were Jim Phillips and Andy Dvorak.

She greatly appreciated Vicki Schulz's math class and her willingness to take the time to provide tutoring. Julie said that the Project Succeed staff and services were also very helpful. Julie's advice about college for other students. "Enjoy it. Sometimes it's a struggle, and it's always a challenge, but it's fun!