Photo courtesy of LBCC You can call me Dio. That was how LBCC writing instructor Dio Morales introduced herself on the first day of her Creative Writing-Nonfiction class. She had students move the tables into a semi-circle so they could all see each other as they got to know who else was signed up to take this class. The students were slow to speak, but she kept prompting them with questions. Soon one person started talking. Then another, then they were all talking. So, here they were in week eight and she had a hard time getting them to stop talking. That is the effect Professor Morales had on her class. Tell a little bit about yourself and how you got started writing creatively? I've been a full-time faculty here at LBCC for five years now. I'm a creative non-fiction writer in my spare time and I write personal essays. I had my first essay collection published in 2018 and it was very exciting to get that in print and it was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award, whi...
Transplanting Grass Roots The Grass Roos sign looks great in the sun after being thoroughly cleaned, after hanging in the shade collecting moss and mold all these years on Second Street. Moving is never easy. We all have to go through it some time in our lifetime. Why we move ranges from outgrowing the space you're in to just needing a change of scenery. Sometimes we have no choice. The most stressful move is thrust upon you in the form of an eviction. That is what happened to Grass Roots’ owners, Jack Wolcott and Sandy Smith, back in September 2023. That is when a miracle happened. Smith said, "I heard that The Shoe Hutch was closing their doors." Wolcott told her "to call them to make sure what she had heard was correct." It was. So Wolcott called the building owner to see if they could lease the space. The building owner gave him an enthusiastic yes! But it would take a few months to get the place ready. The new building owner offered to pay for the renovati...
Bring on Spring Term Hope your break left you refreshed. I am now in my third term of journalism. This term I will be writing featured stories and starting my column about the experiences of students with disabilities and the challenges we face just to get to class, doing our homework and what can LB can do to help us get the same education as everyone else. I've been just resting during the break. Cheering the OSU Beaver Women's basketball teams march to the Elite Eight. They soared much higher than pre-season poll said they would go. Picking them to finish tenth in the final Pac-12 season. They finished as one of the top eight teams in the country. It was a honor to have my first story appear in the February print issue of The Commuter. I also had a story posted on the online version of The Commuter. My major is Creative Writing but my focus is on Journalism. My three goals for this Spring term: 1) Meet all my deadlines. I didn't m...
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