News

Across the country this month, the sounds of Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance” will be followed by the cheers and throwing of caps as millions of new college graduates celebrate the achievement of a higher education degree. And while obtaining a degree has its many challenges, the new graduate now faces an even bigger hurdle: Competing for jobs in what remains to be a tight job market. But a prepared few will have a leg up on their peers – those who have completed internships are more likely to get hired.

My journey from a newly enrolled student at Waubonsee Community College to President of the Waubonsee Community College Student Senate has been defined by civic engagement. Involvement in one’s community is not only an important way to give back, but it is also an opportunity that widens your network, sharpens your skills and opens your mind.

Having spent the majority of my rewarding professional career at Waubonsee Community College, the support and encouragement the college gives to employees to get involved with our communities has had the most impact on my life.

Waubonsee Community College is represented on 13 different chambers of commerce throughout Kane and Kendall counties. Having served on the Elburn chamber for the last four years as a representative for Waubonsee, I have learned the value these organizations offer our communities.

Delivering quality health care cannot be done without collaboration. This occurs every day in a hospital when a doctor calls a specialist to identify the proper treatment for an issue or when a social worker plans a discharge based on the recommendations from a nurse. When each profession brings its specialized knowledge to the table, innovation and progress can occur. Over the last year, the health care and educational industries have collaborated in several ways to improve health care right here in the Fox Valley.

We all want to live in a community that we can call excellent. We want a community that is responsive and fulfills our need for public services, education, recreation and social interaction. In the Fox Valley we are fortunate to have municipalities that strive for excellence every day. However, reaching the goal of excellence is not easy today, as economic forces over the last 20 years have put unprecedented demands on municipal leaders, staffs, employees, budgets, and infrastructure.

Since the beginning of the early 1900s, educating health care professionals in institutions of higher education rather than hospital-based diploma and certification programs remained a long-term goal for many professions.

Take a little trip back in time with me, please: It’s mid-February. The temperature has been below freezing for weeks, and snow covers the landscape. I take my Biology 122 students at Waubonsee Community College out to collect samples from Blackberry Creek. Amid the grumbling about the cold, students remark at how anything could still be alive in these conditions.

Seventy-two years after its inception, the GI Bill is still going strong at colleges across the nation. But while the GI Bill might help veterans get their foot in the door toward a degree in higher education, it’s up to colleges and universities to implement services for veterans to ensure that the transition from service to our country to scholarly pursuits goes smoothly. At Waubonsee Community College, offering personalized service to veterans is just one way we thank our veterans for all they’ve sacrificed for our freedom.