Independent Student Voice of MHCC

Volume 52, Issue 27 MAY 11, 2018 advocate-online.net

MHCC students shine at Oxford PAGE 3

King Kendrick in PNW PAGE 6

Elite hurdler trains at MHCC PAGE 7

CATCHING STARS Understanding sexual violence PAGE 3

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OPINION

A D V O C AT E - O N L I N E . N E T

ENSURING SCREEN TIME COMPLEMENTS RELATIONSHIPS Smartphones are great, but they can also be a distraction Ryan Moore the advocate

on the floor and leaving it there. Smartphones can already accomplish a lot of different tasks, but the most common functions are the ones that are more likely to compete for our attention. No matter what platform or app it is, messaging others is something cell phone users do for an endless number of reasons. In a group setting, however, there’s almost an unspoken courtesy to refrain from glossing over the present conversation to instead fix your

“

As the weather gets nicer, there are more opportunities to enjoy nature and interact with people in the outdoors. For Oregonians especially, this also presents a great chance to whip out the smartphone to capture pictures of the beautiful, warm sun we don’t get to see as often as people in other places. But when we’re attending events aimed at socializing with family, friends, and acquaintances alike, how often are we actually distracted by our phones? Whether it’s inside or outside, if you are at an event of any kind, chances are people have their phone on them, if not already in their hand waiting to be checked at the next possible moment. I am guilty of this myself, and a lot of similar habits are generally associated with younger phone users. I was at a recent gathering where I noticed myself controlling the music, texting, and trying to take videos, all at the same time. Soon enough I felt like tossing my phone

Editor-in-Chief Matana McIntire Associate Editor/ News Editor Greg Leonov Copy Editor Position Open Co-Arts & Entertainment Editor Ryan Moore Co-Arts & Entertainment/ Social Media Manager Cassie Wilson

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and most often it’s the latter since scrolling through any app typically doesn’t require much brainpower. Ever since Snapchat came around there has been a debate over whether it’s really necessary to document so much of what goes on during everyday life. But if you think about social gatherings, they are usually events meant to celebrate something or to simply appreciate the present company. Capturing these moments with photos or videos isn’t necessarily an

I was at a recent gathering where I noticed myself controlling the music, texting, and trying to take videos, all at the same time. Soon enough I felt like tossing my phone on the floor and leaving it there. gaze into your phone, since that gives an impression of disinterest. Ironically, there are those who use their phones to text friends who are in the same room, but that serves its own purpose. Another primary use of smartphones, in particular, is jumping across apps to scroll through the feeds of social media. While some of us might argue we are capable of multitasking between viewing Facebook and listening to a conversation, inevitably the quality of one or both tasks will suffer,

interference unless the process of sharing the content itself becomes too involved. Many of us have a device that is almost always within our reach. Sometimes we want to show each other what is on our screens, and this is both acceptable and can be very entertaining. The important thing is to remember that your phone is just an accessory to the time you spend with those you care about on those warm, sunny days.

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Ad Managers Megan Phelps Twesiga Disan

Cover Photo by Fletcher Wold

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Advisers Howard Buck Dan Ernst Staff Writers Logan Hertner Kente Bates Lukas Brito Barry Morganti Anna Brito

Contact us! E-mail: advocatt@mhcc.edu Phone: 503-491-7250 Website: advocate-online.net Twitter: @MHCCAdvocate Facebook: facebook.com/TheAdvocateOnline Instagram: @MHCCAdvocate #MHCCAdvocate Mt. Hood Community College 26000 SE Stark Street Gresham, Oregon 97030 Room AC1369

The Advocate encourages readers to share their opinion by letters to the editor and guest columns for publication. All submissions must be typed and include the writer’s name and contact information. Contact information will not be printed unless requested. Original copies will not be returned to the author. The Advocate will not print any unsigned submission. Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and guest columns should not exceed 600. The decision to publish is at the discretion of the editorial board. The Advocate reserves the right to edit for style, punctuation, grammar and length. Please bring submissions to The Advocate in Room 1369, or e-mail them to advocatt@mhcc.edu. Submissions must be received by 5 p.m. Monday the week of publication to be considered for print. Opinions expressed in columns, letters to the editor or advertisements are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Advocate or MHCC.

NEWS

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ANYONE CAN BE VULNERABLE TO SEXUAL ASSAULT Entitlement leads to sexual violence appearing in many forms Greg Leonov the advocate

Sexual assault can take several shapes, and have a number of effects on a victim, an advocate told a crowd of 30-40 people gathered in the MHCC Student Union in late April. “It can include unwanted attention, it can be emotional, it can also be physical,” said Jenna Harper, prevention/education program manager for the Sexual Assault Resource Center (SARC) of Oregon. Harper’s appearance on April 26 came as Mt. Hood recognized Sexual Assault Awareness Month. She discussed sexual violence, which doesn’t always involve physical contact. “There’s things like public masturbation – which isn’t necessarily one person touching another person, but it is a form of sexual violence,” she explained. That runs counter to incest or violent spousal abuse, “all of those things are parts of sexual

violence that include touching.” More examples of nonphysical violence include actions like coercion and intimidation against someone. “When we talk about sexual assault, a lot of times people think of, like, this really violent attack, that there’s a weapon present. But, more often we see coercion, and we see intimidation,” Harper said. Pressuring someone into performing sexual acts are such examples. Wearing someone down; guilting someone: “If you loved me, if you really cared about me, you would do this with me,” she said, describing one such tactic. “Those can be very explicit threats, like ‘I’m going to have the kids taken away from you. I’m going to hurt the kids,’ ” she said. “Sometimes (those threats) can be actually said, but sometimes they can be a little bit more implicit.” Verbal harassment is a prevalent form of abuse, said Harper. Women are often “slut-

shamed” or put down because of the number of sexual partners they had, or simply because of the way they dress. ‘Oppression’ commonplace Falling victim to harassment isn’t limited to cisgender women, according to Harper. In fact, transgender and gendernonconforming individuals fall victim much more often. “When you look at people intersectionally, people who have multiple identities and if you’re, for example, a person of color who’s also queer and you’re not a man – whether you’re trans or you’re not binary or you’re a woman – your chances of experience of sexual violence go up,” Harper said. “There’s a word we have for this: It’s called oppression.” Harper then listed some numbers from a survey conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Oregon, the data show that 33 percent of multiracial women experience rape, followed by 27

percent of Alaskan and Native American women; then, 22 percent of black women, followed by 19 percent of white women, 15 percent of Hispanic and 9.5 percent of Asian women, said Harper. Advocates can “take a look at some of these numbers and think maybe some of them are a little low because of the cultural differences and (work on) being able to talk about this and being open to talking about this,” she said. Ultimately, Harper said that oppression in all forms happens to vulnerable populations who are marginalized in society. Talk, not entitlement She followed with a brief explanation of the #MeToo phenomenon, and that topic led to discussion of the recent van-vs.pedestrians attack in Toronto. An individual who was not sexually active felt that he was owed sex by women, and constant rejection made him take revenge by driving

a van into numerous women on foot. Discussion of the “incel” (involuntary celibate) community went on for a while. The root cause of sexual violence is entitlement, Harper explained. Perpetrators commit sexual violence because they feel they are entitled to sex. It’s a result of “saying that if you want it, you can take it because you deserve it,” she said. “And there are certain people who feel that way in our society more so than others.” Harper described ways to make the sexual experience more fulfilling (and safe). Mainly, she said that it’s important to simply talk about it with partner(s). “We should learn how to talk to each other: Does this feel good, do you like that? May I? Are you okay with this, could we talk about this first?” she said. “For a lot us, it’s awkward. We need to learn it. We need to work on it, we need to teach youth to learn it.”

MT. HOOD STUDENTS TACKLE HUMAN RIGHTS AT OXFORD Lukas Brito

the Advocate MHCC may not be the largest school in the area, but our school does not have to be massive in order to be able to offer opportunities that might take you around the world to remarkable places – such as Oxford University. This past March, and the year prior, the Mt. Hood Community College Foundation sponsored two students to attend the Oxford Consortium on Human Rights, in England. Consisting of 25-30 students, the Consortium’s attendees represented a number of colleges and universities from around the country, but Mt. Hood was the only community college included. The two students from MHCC, who have since moved on, were Brenna Schmidt and Hunter

Boelow. Cheyney Ryan, human rights program director at Oxford University’s Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC), puts the Consortium event together every spring. Instructors involved in this event either know, or have some mutual contact, with Ryan. In this case, Janet McIntyre, dean of Integrated Media/Performing and Visual Arts here at MHCC, had made a connection with Ryan and so was responsible for getting Mt. Hood to be a participant of such an impressive event. Both MHCC students, along with Janet Campbell, Mt. Hood political science and business instructor, attended this year’s event. The five-day seminar, “Human Rights in and After Conflict,” presented teachings and research workshops on human rights,

global conflict, humanitarian aid, and peace building, “aimed at understanding and creating effective solutions for the issues of today,” according to organizers. With contributions from a variety of “high-power people,” as Campbell explained, the seminar hosted the director of policy from the International Red Cross and one of the members that helped with the recovery of the Rwandan genocide, along with many other field workers. Inspired gathering Campbell described the Consortium as intensive, intimate, and inspirational. “It’s... really, kind of intensive. We’re in there from 9 (a.m.) to 3 (p.m.) every day, then there’s an evening session, as well. It was five days, then the students do a presentation at the end, on the fifth day.

“It’s an intimate experience; they are living in the dorms together, and we spent so much time together, and the level of passion about human rights is so high, that everyone just inspires everyone,” Campbell continued. “Like, the people who are really big in the field inspire the students, but the future of the human rights movement are the students in that room, so the inspiration kind of goes back as well. “It’s a really unique situation.” There were many events that each student could look forward to, but as an instructor and someone already well-informed about the subject, Campbell was able to experience the Consortium in a different way. Her own highlight was being able to see the interaction between students, and the passion that each student had for human rights.

“My highlight was seeing the student presentations. Through their presentations, their own commitments to human rights came out,” she said. “And you know, especially when you follow the news, it’s mostly negative stuff. And just to see that caliber of students taking these issues really seriously gives you hope for the world. It really does.” Attending the Consortium on Human Rights at Oxford University is an extraordinary opportunity for students to travel and advocate for human rights. If this is something that may interest you, MHCC will be attending again next year. Students interested in applying must submit an essay explaining why they are interested in human rights, and actions they have taken to advance them. For more information, contact Campbell at janet.campbell@mhcc.edu. PA G E 3

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

A D V O C AT E - O N L I N E . N E T

IMAGINATIONS RUN FREE IN 'PETE

Actors grow more confident through focusing on the Cassie Wilson the advocate

The excitement and whimsy in the air can be found in the Studio Theatre wing on campus, where Mt. Hood theatre students hang out and have bonded between classes in the days leading up to tonight’s opening of “Peter and the Starcatcher.” In talking with the main character actors – boy (Peter), played by Josh Smith; Molly, played by Liana Tarasenko; and Black Stache, played by Chris Wolfe – their confidence and passion for their roles was visibly apparent. The three students are set to graduate this June and are finishing the year performing in the three biggest roles each has held in a Mt.

Photos by Fletcher Wold // the Advocate

Liana Tarasenko (top) as Molly, Josh Smith as Boy/Peter, and Chris Wolfe (right) as Black Stache in “Peter and the Starcatcher.”

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will help bring the magic to life in “Peter.” Smith said his favorite part of this production is the audience reactions and realizations as patrons uncover things that they never would’ve known about Peter Pan, and how he becomes who he is. As opposed to using traditional stage props, actors have lots of personal items that are used to build each scene. Wolfe explained, “For example, a bucket that I use in the show in one scene is supposed to be a bucket full of worms that’s being fed to the kids, and in the next scene I just use it as a puke bucket because I’m seasick.” Those imaginative methods are also used to depict levitation, bucking waves, and more. Confidence grows Smith explained that Archer always pushes the entire cast to stay focused and try to anticipate what’s coming next. The three main actors all expressed how much their focus has grown this term. “I’m more in the show, more in the scene, and seeing what other people are doing so I can react off of them easier,” said Smith. All three talked of making bigger choices, taking bigger risks, and growing more self-confident with this play. The past two years have prepared them for this. “The biggest thing I’ve learned is to be fearless with what you’re doing,

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Hood main stage production. If you’ve attended any Mt. Hood shows in the past, you may recognize these actors from productions such as “You Can’t Take It With You,” “Man of La Mancha,” or “Spring Awakening.” They’ve all completely immersed themselves in their involvement in theater in their time here at MHCC, and all of their hard work is paying off in “Peter.” Intimate setting This play is being performed in the Studio Theatre, as opposed to the College Theatre. This choice of venue was also made for “Spring Awakening.” Wolfe, Tarasenko, Smith, and director Mace Archer were in unanimous agreement that very little compares to the experience of performing in and viewing plays in the Studio Theatre. As opposed to a gigantic auditorium, it provides an intimate setting with very little separation between the audience and the actors. “It’s more fun to do it in the Studio Theatre because you’re closer to the people that have paid money to forget about life for a little while, so that’s the most enjoyable part for me,” said Wolfe. That being said, the actors also do enjoy the large-scale experience of the College Theatre. “You have to be bigger both vocally and physically so the audience can see you and hear you” there, explained Tarasenko. The intimacy of the Studio Theatre

KING KENDRICK

and to not dwell too long on a single moment,” said Wolfe. “If something does go wrong, it’s in the past, it’s gone now, and you can work on the next big thing you have to do.” With this production being a comedy, a lot of the choices the actors had to make dealt with making people laugh. Smith’s strategy was to go all-out, right from the beginning, and then adjust and change things from there. The cast had to be conscious of reactions to their lines, and constantly work to get them to a point where they consistently landed well and made people laugh. “As funny as things may be, for [the characters] that’s really what’s going on, and for them it’s serious, so you kind of have to throw that aside and just be like, ‘No, this is my world, this is true for me right now,’ so it requires a lot of focus,” said Tarasenko. From a precision-focused rap, to life lessons that can be learned from these young characters, to the humorous ways they contradict themselves, there’s a lot of exciting parts of this play to look forward to seeing live. To dive into the origin stories of characters you know and love, reserve your spot and buy a ticket early. Visit mhcc.edu/theatreboxoffice. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. tonight and Saturday (May 11-12) and May 18-19, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 13, and May 20.

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SCHOOLBOY Q

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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ER AND THE STARCATCHER'

e details and taking bigger risks on stage

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Photos by Fletcher Wold // the Advocate

The “Peter and the Starcatcher” cast working to perfect their final Mt. Hood production of the 2017-18 school year, a comedy about Peter Pan’s origin story.

To view more images of Play coverage, advocate-online.net

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SCAN TO LISTEN TO THE SET LIST FROM THE CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR

@MHCCadvocate Graphics by Matana McIntire // the Advocate

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR MAKES PORTLAND AUDIENCE FEEL LIKE ‘TOP DAWGS’ Matana McIntire the advocate

King Kendrick has spoken; all hail the king. Kendrick Lamar stopped at two Washington state venues this past weekend – the White River Amphitheater in Aurora, near Seattle, and the Sunlight Supply Amphitheater in Ridgefield, just north of Vancouver – as part of The Championship tour with his label, Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE).

During these two tour stops, King Kendrick was accompanied by fellow TDE label artists SZA, Schoolboy Q, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, SiR, and even Lance Skywalker for one song during their Aurora show. On top of that, he brought Kung-Fu Kenny, K. Dot, and even Pulitzer Kenny to the shows. And before you get excited, like I did for both tour stops, they did not – I repeat, DID NOT – perform any Black Hippy songs. And look, I’m not resentful, not by a long shot,

but having the original crew all on one stage seemed like a perfect opportunity to really throw it back and perform their early hits. I was eager for that family vibe, the smiles on their faces as lifelong friends performed together like they used to. There was a little of that: Jay Rock came out for his verse on “Money Trees,” the first feature to actually come out on stage and make the crowd go wild; Schoolboy Q performed “X” from the Black Panther album with Lamar near

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the end of the set, which made the amphitheater bounce. But not once did you see more than two performers on stage. If you’ve been a longtime TDE fan like myself, it’s a bit of a letdown. When I bought the tickets for both Washington shows, I knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Hell, it still was – Kendrick performed songs I never thought I would have seen in concert: “Backseat Freestyle,” “Money Trees,” “King Kunta,” “untitled 07,” to name a few. But I didn’t hear “Say Wassup,” I didn’t hear “Rolling Stone.” I’m still hoping I’ll see them performed live someday. Performers bring it At the end of the day, both shows were dope. Intermissions were short, and each performer hyped the crowd. First, SiR came out and performed songs from his album, November, accompanied by Schoolboy on the track “Something Foreign.” Following SiR, Ab-Soul performed a few songs before Schoolboy Q came on stage. Schoolboy lit up the crowd with “Collard Greens” (AHEM – Kendrick did NOT join Q for his feature, she says with a hard sideeye), “Break the Bank,” “Man of the Year,” and “Studio.” It was during Schoolboy’s performance that you really began to feel the crowd buzz with an indescribable energy. It was clear that there were many OG TDE fans in the audience, because the crowd often rapped along, word-for-word. And let me tell you, if you’ve never seen Schoolboy perform before, you’re missing out, because he is such a fun dude to watch bounce around on stage: the way he goofs with the crowd, the way he dances, the way he makes a point to make eye contact with the front rows. The same can be said for SZA. She had this way of bopping on stage and smiling at the crowd that was so enrapturing. SZA became choked up with emotion while prefacing “Garden (Say It Like Dat)” during the Aurora show, asking the fans if they’ve ever felt like they’re 30 different people in one week. And as much as I love all the artists at TDE’s Championship tour, it was amazing to see beautiful feminine energy at the show. I was inspired by her smile

Photo by Matana McIntire // the Advocate

Each performer wore custom TDE gear, Lamar’s a specialty Nike track suit.

and her voice. I’ll always remember her performance, how she made the amphitheater feel like a 200-square foot living room. And then, Kendrick. KungFu Kenny. K. Dot. He performed for, maybe, 45 minutes, but it felt like hours. He put his executive producing skills to use with the set list, because it was such a beautifully curated list. We got a hint of that family vibe when he brought out Jay Rock for “Money Trees,” Schoolboy Q for “X,” Zacari for DAMN.’s “Love.” Most of all, he gave us the show of a lifetime, and I’m so glad I was able to be there. Leaving the amphitheater on Saturday and again Sunday night, the energy was wild. It felt amazing. The crowd was abuzz as everyone reminisced, conversations overlapping conversations, friends finding each other in the mass of people heading for the parking lot. My friend and I found our way to the car and sat back to ruminate. Will we ever get an experience like that again? We don’t know. All I can say is that this experience will last me a lifetime. If you’d like to hear the set list for TDE’s Championship tour, The Advocate has put together a playlist on Spotify, and you can scan the QR code on our cover to listen.

SPORTS

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ELITE ATHLETE GETS LIFT AT MT. HOOD

Photos by: Fletcher Wold // The Advocate

Jonathan Zacarias the advocate

Meet Janna Vander Meulen. Born in Buckley, Washington, but raised in the nearby town of Puyallup, Vander Meulen was introduced to sports at a very young age. Her mother had noticed how active and athletic she was and decided to sign her up for sports. Janna did a little of everything, ranging from gymnastics to swimming, though she soon fell in love with soccer, where she initially wasn’t looking forward to trying out. She later attended Rogers High School in Puyallup, where she lettered in soccer, basketball and track and field. After graduating, she moved on to Monmouth to attend Western Oregon University and continue her track career. During her time at Western Oregon, Janna set some astonishing records including the women’s indoor collegiate record for the 60-meter hurdles. She finished in 9.06 seconds at the GNAC Indoor Championships, held at Nampa, Idaho, in February 2012. Yet, Janna’s most recognized success came after college. She believed her track career was done, but destiny had different plans for her: In 2012 she became a member of the United States of America Deaf Track and Field team (USADTF). PA G E 7

You see, Janna, who just turned 28, is deaf. She was born with a very low percentage of hearing, so, since she was 15 months old, she’s had hearing aids. It hasn’t been easy for her competing in a hearing world and it’s brought challenges to her life, but she’s always been able to overcome them. She has learned to read peoples’ lips and to use sign language, as well. Janna then participated in the 2013 Deaflympics in Sofia, Bulgaria, where she earned two silver medals:

being only .006 seconds behind the leader. “It was a race I knew I could have won,.” she says now. Coming to Mt. Hood After experiencing success at the world stage, Janna she was hungry for more. She was determined to compete at the 2017 Deaflympics and to win the 100m hurdles. But some obstacles early on made that very difficult. The year 2014 was tough in terms of training: She had relied on her college coach, Michael

she explained. “I knew I needed a different coach, to be able to work out more, (have) someone to be there to watch me hurdle.” In 2015 she reached out to a former coworker to see if he knew any good hurdle coaches. That friend pointed to Fernando Fantroy, now MHCC’s co-head track and field coach, with whom her colleague had previously coached at Gresham High School. Janna admits now to being a bit nervous meeting Fantroy, as she

Hurdler Janna Vander Meulen (smiling) has won several medals at international Deaflympics competitions. She is currently training alongside Saints athletes on the Mt. Hood track.

one in the 100-meter hurdles and the other in the 4x100- meter relay. She also earned a bronze medal in the 400-meter hurdles. And yet, her second-place finish in the 100m hurdles was one she doesn’t forget,

Johnson, but noticed she needed someone closer to home, now the Portland area. “He’s all the way in Monmouth. To see him once a week – it was really hard to hurdle by myself,”

knew nothing of him, and had no idea her first practice with him was more of a tryout than anything else. That said, she passed the test and began training with him in August 2015.

Fantroy, has coached for over 35 years, in both high school and college, in a variety of events. From mentoring state champions to state record holders, he is no stranger to the sport. But this was a new challenge for him, he said. “My first thought was, I don’t know no sign language,” he said, laughing over his initial concern taking on Janna. “It was a challenge, but I always tell my athletes, ‘Hey, let’s go ahead and challenge ourselves, always challenge yourself,’ so it was a new challenge for me and I said, hey, let’s see what she’s bringing to the table.” A new challenge He then researched Janna and got an idea of what he was getting himself into. And during her first training sessions on Mt. Hood’s track, he realized he could work with what she had: “I said, man let’s see what I can do.” Switching coaches was new for Janna. She noticed that her old coach and Fantroy had very different coaching styles. The former stressed experiment and feedback; the latter, laser-sharp focus on hurdling technique. “Their ways are completely different. He’s (Fantroy) more like ‘Trail, trail, trail, tactical, tactical, tactical,’ while my old coach was more like ‘Run through, give me feedback, and then run though, run through,’ ” she explained. “Fernando helps me work one part at a time, so he basically broke me down and built me back up. So, I really enjoy working with him and I learn a lot.” Her new coach also learned to make adjustments, and overcome hurdles – in communication. “Like I always tell everyone, it was a ‘ear opening’ (experience) for me,” Fantroy said. “Ear opening because I just had to make sure I was looking at her, because there were times where she was walking away, and I was talking, and I realized she didn’t know – so the other athletes, the Mt. Hood athletes, had to let her know that coach was talking to her.” Chasing down the dream After the pair found the base of communication, knowing Janna could read lips, things got smoother. As time went by, both got more comfortable and she taught Fantroy some sign language.

TO CONTINUE READING, SEE 'ELITE ATHLETE' ON PAGE 8

SPORTS

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MHCC track co-coach Fernando Fantroy uses sign language to help train Janna Vander Meulen. The pair has worked together since 2015.

Photos by: Fletcher Wold // The Advocate

‘ELITE ATHLETE’ CONTINUED CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7

He concedes he isn’t proficient with it yet, and boy, does she get on his case for it, but they’ve created a great relationship. Helping to smooth things is the fact that hurdles are a tactical event, he added. “You don’t really need to

Vander Meulen warming up for practice.

do much communicating; it’s a visual thing. I’m not going over a hurdle (to demonstrate a point), but I can still show visually what I want from her.” Fantroy discussed how he felt coaching Janna with her strong ambition of going to the 2017 Deaflympics and winning gold. “There was nothing significantly different. Athletically, she’s like any other athlete. The only difference was that I was dealing now with an international athlete, an actual professional, world class athlete,” he said. “But it was no different because I know how to get an athlete hurdler or any athlete to that next level. My

goal was to get her that gold medal. I teamed up with her strength coach where she totaled 20 hours (per week) in between me and her strength coach, which I recommended to her, besides her 40-hour weeks she works at Nike.” All that hard work and countless hours of training with Fantroy paid off. In 2017, Janna headed to Samsun, Turkey, for the 2017 Deaflympics and finally won that gold medal in the 100-meter hurdlers that she so much dreamed of. She also earned a bronze medal in the 400m hurdles. She currently holds the deaf American women’s records for the 100m hurdle, 400m hurdle, and 4x100m

relay. The results made her so happy and proud, she said. That feeling of finally winning a gold medal after all the hard work she put in and beating that girl who won the 2013 100m hurdle race was awesome, though she was slightly unsatisfied with her time. There are no complaints, though: “Deciding (between) a personal record or a gold medal, I would definitely pick the gold medal,” she said. Inspired, and an inspiration But Janna isn’t done yet. Her eyes are now on the 2021 Deaflympics, where she is determined to break the Deaf world record for the 100m hurdles of 14.21 seconds, and rightfully make history at the world stage. Her current time is 14.29, just .08 seconds away from that time. Her dream now is to crush that and get under 14; even a 13.99 would be enough for her. Her next international meet will be in Japan, a friendly meet

and field athletes here very supportive. “It’s nice to work out with a team you know. The athletes here are very welcoming, even though I don’t come here (for school), but they always make me feel as I’m part of the team,” she said. And Janna always gives back to Mt. Hood. She shows up at the Saints’ home meets and helps run the meet, guides and gives feedback to athletes she considers her teammates. “I’m hoping I inspire them to keep running after college because it seems like everyone is done after college,” she said. “I’m actually faster now. I thought I was my fastest when I was in college but look at me now: I’m older but faster! So, you guys have more chance to improve your personal record and surpass your limits,” is her lasting message.

for Deaf athletes this Memorial Day weekend where she plans to make a statement for 2021 goal. Meantime, Janna will continue training with Coach Fantroy here at Mt. Hood’s track, twice a week, which is how she’s been doing it since 2015. She noted that she loves the environment at Mt. Hood and finds the track

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