Vol 2.  Issue No. 1  Fall/Winter 2002

Alumni Spotlight

Road to Success

"Riverland is small enough that you can have a voice and large enough to give you the training you need for the future"

It was a long hard road, but after nine years of night classes and 60-hour work weeks running an in-home daycare, Paulette Anderson completed her Associate in Arts degree in 1998 at Riverland Community College. Paulette, who currently works as the Executive Director of the Mower County Senior Center, started her college career in 1989 by taking a class with the help of an Alliss Foundation Grant. That first taste of College was all it took for Paulette to know Riverland was the place for her.

"Riverland is small enough that you can have a voice and large enough to give you the training you need for the future. Classes are flexible, and education is really personalized," Anderson said. Paulette started at Riverland because it was close to home, but she finished her degree here because she received a great deal of education for a reasonable cost. Now that she has completed her bachelor's degree, Paulette is taking a break from classes.

Her favorite teacher was Jackie Fellows who made learning fun. She says she is still using the skills she learned at Riverland in her job today. She uses her computer skills, English and writing skills, and speech skills, all of which were honed at Riverland. She also sees great benefit from the psychology classes she took, because she has a better understanding of why people are the way they are.

"If you are taking a college class, go every day and you will do well. Don't be afraid to ask questions of the teachers; they are there to help you."

Paulette is a strong advocate of Riverland.

"I tell all of my daughters friends to go to Riverland." And, she proudly admits that her daughter Heather is a Riverland Post Secondary Enrollment Option student