Mike reviewing Mike
40 Years and A Stroke Didn’t Stop Me From Going Back to Linn-Benton Community College!
Well, Mike How Do You Think You Did?
I was nervous when I thought about going back to Linn-Benton Community College. I went to LBCC 40 years ago right out of high school. I had no idea what I wanted to be and wasn’t very focused. I struggled in most of my classes and after two years dropped out and joined the Air Force.
Fast forward to 2018. The year started out with an injury to my back getting off the city bus on my way to work on a rainy day in January. One MRI later and I had a herniated disk in my lower back. Surgery would have to wait because my family was taking care of my mother-in-law and I was needed at home and work.
Finally, in October I was able to have the surgery. I would have to take a week off to recover in bed. I was given the OK to go back to work at Shirt Circuit as a screen printer. That was Thursday, Nov. 1. I worked the rest of the week.
That was the last day I would work at Shirt Circuit.
That Sunday I had a stroke.
I worked hard to just be able to walk, talk, write and get my life back. With the support of my wife and my boys, after 5 years I was able to do just that. See, during my recovery, I discovered I could write. First it was poetry then I wrote stories about events that happened in my childhood. Just in case I had another stroke or worse, they would get to know my story.
I was in a writers group that met on Zoom because of the pandemic. These people could write beautifully and I did not like that I didn’t have the skills to tell a good story. That is when I decided to look at going back to school. I first had to find the funding. Being disabled and not working qualified me for FAFSA. So, I enrolled in the fall of 2023, majoring in creative writing and journalism.
I went to an orientation at Chinook Hall and got help to register. I thought we declared my major.
I’ll talk about that later. I signed up for Photojournalism with Rob Priewe and Writing 121 with Jasmine La Rue. They were on two different campuses. I will never do that again.
My commute to school was as much work as my schoolwork. First I had to set up a ride with Dial-A-Bus to get me to the transit center to catch the Loop bus to the Albany campus. I would have to schedule it early enough so I would be on time to Priewe’s class. Then as soon as class was done I had to quickly catch the Loop back to the transit center to catch the No. 2 bus to Chinook Hall for La Rue’s class.
I accidently got on the Philomath Connection bus one time. By the time I got back to the transit center it was too late to make it to Photojournalism. I did make it to my writing class. The only other time I missed class was when I missed the Loop back to Corvallis. Very embarrassing but nobody noticed but me.
One of my best photos of the Fall term.
Finished fall term strong, pulling out an A in Writing 121 and a B in Photojournalism. .
Then came the glitch. I guess I didn’t declare a major when I enrolled in the fall. See, I had too many credits to be undeclared. That’s when I met my awesome advisor, Diana Boro-Boswell. She is great! She helped me get the whole thing fixed. So, I registered for winter term.
Jasmine recommended Dio Morales’ Creative Writing: Non-fiction class, which worked perfectly because it was in the same building and days as my News Reporting & Writing class again with Rob. Getting to class went a lot smoother and I was always the first one to both classes.
Dio Morales
I was excited this term. I would be able to actually do some news reporting as well as some creative writing. My first story was an interview with Linn-Benton’s head baseball coach Andy Peterson. I learned a lot with that first interview. I made the mistake of not recording it. I did take some pictures which helped jar my memory. My story made it into the magazine edition of The Commuter. I have a copy if you want to see it.
I finished strong with my final essay in my writing class to earn an A. In my journalism class, I was able to put together a story about my father-in-law’s involvement in the art installations on the main campus and the two Corvallis campuses. He and I had a beautiful moment together doing that story. That was in March. He passed away just two months later. I will never forget that time we had together.
Bill Shumway
I finished with a B in news reporting class, again! Dang, Rob is a tough grader!
Rob Priewe
Spring break was too short. Before I knew it I was back on the Loop heading to class. Spring term I was back in Rob’s class. This time doing Feature Writing learning to find my voice. My favorite two stories were about the new Grass Roots bookstore location and my 10 questions interview with Sarah Rose Larson. I took some really good photos of Grass Roots and Sarah Rose was just so pleasant to interview.
I don’t know my grades yet but I learned so much this term. I have grown in confidence in my writing and my ability to do homework with a deadline.
I couldn’t have come this far to get to this point in my recovery without the love and support of my wife. She would make me a peanut butter sandwich every day I had class. That’s three times a week while also getting ready for work five days a week. I have to give a shout out to my son Ben McReynolds for giving me a ride home from Starbucks or Pegasus Gallery three times a week with no complaints.
I am signed up for the fall term of 2024.
Bottom line is I know I did great! Bring on SUMMER!
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