The Balance of Life VS Music

Sitting behind her music stand, silence fills the air as she prepares to play. The first notes of the song hit the air, first soft then crescendoing, eventually filling up the house. As she plays she sways with the beat making a flow to the music. As she is ending the song, her eyes show the passion she has for music.

Rachel Egan has known music for most of her life, having grown up as the youngest of five in a music loving family. All of her older siblings learned to play a different instrument when they were a child, and this was the same for Rachel. She started playing the alto saxophone when she was very young, then progressed on to the baritone saxophone for her high school band. Having the same band teacher throughout middle school and high school has also helped Rachel with her musical success.

Having watched and heard most of her siblings place in the state musical competitions for both instrumental as well as voice, Rachel wanted the same thing. Rachel accomplished this goal and placed 2nd in state for saxophone solo. A part from music Rachel is a member of The National Honors Society.

Rachel describes her passion for music as "I love music because it is raw expression of the soul and feeling. Also, it is a language that anyone in the world can understand."
Outside of music and school, Rachel spends her time volunteering in a woodwind quintet along with acting as the president of her church youth group. On top of all of these things that Rachel does she finds time to travel. Rachel states "I have traveled all over the world. I have been to Mexico, all across Europe, and Cambodia."

When Rachel is not practicing the saxophone, doing her duties as youth group president, or traveling the world, she enjoys just hanging out with her friends and watching Disney movies.

In the fall Rachel will be attending Brigham Young University Provo and majoring in either saxophone performance or music education. After school she says,  "I will hopefully be married and working either as a music teacher or playing saxophone professionally. I possibly might have a Master's Degree in saxophone performance at that point."

Inside the Mind of a Musician

If Camille Walker is not working on school work then she can be found playing her oboe. Graduating from Crescent Valley High School in June, Camille is going to further her studies of music at Brigham Young University, Provo, where she is majoring in Music Education. 

During her high school music career she placed in the top three for the State and Solo Contest twice, once during sophomore year and again this year. As a senior she was a drum major for the marching band. Camille has won quite a few awards that include full tuition to the Interlochen Center for the Arts through the first ever Sound Check Contest, recipients of the Dorothy May Jenks scholarship through the Oregon Music Teachers Association, and the Charles Creighton Scholarship.

For this soon to be graduate, music is a passion that cannot be rivaled. Having recently placed in the top three in the State and Solo Contest, Camille talks about her passion for music "I really have no idea. I think part of it is probably the satisfaction that comes from creating something beautiful. I think I also like the idea that music can be used to communicate ideas of the composer, just like poetry does with poets." 

Rachel Egan, who grew up "Side by side" with Camille describes Camille's love for music as "Really hard to describe. It transcends a love or enjoyment of music. She lives the music that she plays. Her passion is driven by her determination for excellence. Music is her top priority and is what brings her happiness and fulfillment." Rachel also was a drum major along side Camille.

Another close friend of Camille's is Hannah Sneller, who described Camille's passion for music as 

"Music is Camille's passion in life. She practices the oboe like crazy. She drives all the way to Eugene for oboe lessons. She is always looking for the best opportunities to further her musical career. For example, she auditioned for a six-week music camp at Interlochen this year and got in. Then she worked her butt off making a video and getting everyone she knew and everyone they knew to vote for it so she could win a full ride scholarship. And she succeeded. One of her biggest goals in life is to teach music; to find a way to pass on her knowledge and inspire young people the way her teachers inspired her. I know a lot of people who are involved in music and really love it, but Camille is one of the few who I truly believe has the passion and drive to make her dreams come true."

Camille's extra curricular activities don't lack despite the time she spends on school and music. As an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder Day Saints she attends monthly meetings with all the youth leaders and monthly meetings with members of her class to plan activities and service projects that they have weekly. After she does her church activities she performs with a quintet that she founded. They play at community events and nursing homes. 

Rachel talks about Camille outside school and music as a caring and loving person who enjoys helping out friends. Camille also has a dog and a cockatiel that she likes to play with. 

Q: Do you have a role model?

A: I have many role models. My grandmother is a role model of frugality and hard work, and I have always admired both of those traits and strived to emulate them. My mother is a role model of compassionate service. Charles Creighton, Carol Nelson, and Kristine Janes are my music teacher role models. Ultimately, Jesus Christ is my role model.

Q: Describe the scholarship you just won

A:Entrants in the Interlochen Sound Check contest were instructed to create a video of their best performance and to be creative. The tuition for the camp is just under $8,000, and that does not include a ticket to Michigan, or the required uniform. The scholarship covered everything! The catch was that the winner was not selected purely on merit, but on facebook votes. The contest was not simply for a scholarship, it was for marketing! So I marketed like crazy. My brother made a facebook add campaign, and I made a crazy video with me playing oboe in front of a green screen and then a co worker of my father’s Daryl McElmurry edited it so that the background was a video of me on a princess adventure that fit with the selections of music. Then I passed out flyers and spammed my friends. The voting went on over a two week period, so I kept bugging people the whole time. It paid off! They did not call for three days after the contest, I almost gave up hope, and when he did call, I cried a little bit. That’s almost $10,000!

Q: What's your life plan? What do you plan to have accomplished in five, 10, 20, and 50 years -- personally and/or professionally?

A: In five years I plan to have a bachelors in music education from Brigham Young University. I also may be a return missionary for my church. In ten years I hope to be married and have a job in some field of music. Ideally I would teach private lessons while raising my kids. Possibly conducting a youth orchestra. In 20 years I definitely want to have had kids, own a house, and a car! I want to have developed a new hobby and have contributed to my community as a musician and music teacher. In 50 years I think I might like to be retired and traveling the world with my husband and serving possibly more missions for my church in distant and exotic countries eating distant and exotic food.

How Will the New Faculty Advising Plan and the Academic Planning Assistants Work Together?

Beginning in the fall of 2012, all new students will be assigned a faculty adviser. 

To discuss how this new faculty advising plan will impact the division and the role of the existing Academic Planning Assistant position, the Business, Healthcare, and Workforce (BHW) division’s leadership team met on May 1, 2012. The new faculty advising plan is a college wide initiative matching new students with a faculty advisor and requiring regular meetings to discuss programs, courses and careers. BHW is the only division to have a full time Academic Planning Assistant, working closely with faculty, to help students with class choices, special admission bulletins, and program selection.

One major topic of the BHW leadership meeting was how the APA and the new faculty advising plan will work together. Much brainstorming came from the meeting. One idea was that the APA could be a gatekeeper for the faculty so that faculty can focus on helping with career issues for the students and the APA can answer more of the basic scheduling questions. For example, a student that doesn't know what classes to take next term would go to the APA, but if that student had career questions they would go to their faculty adviser. 

Another idea was that the APA could be a backup during the summer since faculty are not on contract during summer months.

The BHW leadership team expressed the opinion that if a student has consistent faculty contact, they are more likely to succeed during their time at LBCC. They also acknowledged the importance of the APA position and that in the past two years, this position has proven its value by assisting students through program completion. The meeting participants felt the combination of faculty advising and APA will increase student completion rates and decrease student misdirection.

At A Glance:

For information visit the sites below.

http://linnbentonpresidentsblog.blogspot.com/

http://www.linnbenton.edu/go/ir

The Completion Agenda and LBCC

The Completion Agenda and LBCC

Surprisingly, only 11% of Linn Benton Community College full time students will graduate within three years of starting school. This is a staggeringly poor number considering enrollment for the 2010-2011 year was 5,410 full time students meaning that 11% of 5,410 is 595 graduates.

The Completion Agenda is a  national and state-wide initiative that focuses on improving the graduation rate. Dr. Greg Hamann, president of LBCC, discussed that under the new Completion Agenda, LBCC is hoping to improve their completion rate by 50%, which means moving from approximately 900 graduates per year to approximately 1350 per year. The American Association of Community Colleges published a report recently that aligns with LBCC’s goal and states that the national goal for completion is also a 50% increase.

The reason for the focus on increased completion, stated by Dr. Hamann, "Is to increase the quality of life for the student after they graduate". It is shown that students that earn any type of certificate or degree have a higher quality of life as opposed to students who do not.

LBCC receives state funding based on enrollment, however that will change and funding will soon be based on the completion rate. Dr. Hamann stated that he is on a committee that is working on a formula for the new funding plan.

Jack Stone, faculty and department chair for the business management department, shared that when students take and retake courses the information the students should be learning gets diluted. This means that the student will not learn as much and will be less likely to complete the course and degree.

Current students will not be significantly impacted by the new focus on completion because if even if curricular changes are made, student who have already enrolled will be using current academic standards.

To find out more about the national report you can visit http://www.aacc.nche.edu/AboutCC/21stcenturyreport/index.html.