A Message from the
Apache
the
VOL. XXVII, NO. 1 SPRING 2012 President Dr. L. Michael Metke Board of Trustees Clint Roxburgh, President Rohn Boone Ann Brookshire Mike Coker John Hills David Hudson Dr. Joe Prud’homme Peggy Smith Lonny Uzzell Editor Elise Mullinix Editorial Board Betty Briggs Elise Mullinix Fred M. Peters Dr. Kimberly A. Russell Writers Becca Anderson Allen Arrick Betty Briggs Elise Mullinix Fred M. Peters Photographers Allen Arrick Robert Langham Fred M. Peters Art Director Susie Bell Creative Services Susie Bell Pamela Rathbun The Apache Magazine is a publication of TJC Marketing & Public Affairs. Letters to the editor: apache@tjc.edu The Apache Magazine Tyler Junior College P.O. Box 9020 Tyler, TX 75711-9020 College Contact Information: 903-510-2200 www.tjc.edu
President
Another school year has come to a close and graduates are preparing to enter the work force or transfer to continue their education at a university. These are moments of celebration and reward. As our students look back upon their time at TJC, I know that most of them will not remember who was president at the time but will recall instead the connections they made with their instructors and classmates. They’ll recall projects that brought groups together and the friends and events that made up their sophomore year. I hope many of them had the opportunity to learn about making positive things happen for others as well. After my second year of college, I chose to be a part of a global effort to help others by joining the Peace Corps. It was the experience of a lifetime for me – living in the rainforest with settlers who were trying to carve out a better life for themselves and their families in a place without electricity or running water. Our small settlement was two hours by horseback from the nearest town, if the river (Rio Ahogados- “River of the Drowned”) could safely be crossed by horseback. Otherwise we were cut off from the rest of the world and we had to rely completely on each other. Like so many others who served, I got much more back from my experiences than I could ever give. I learned that happiness is mostly internal. These people who had so little were some of the kindest, most generous and happiest people I would ever meet. Over the past three years, we have taken students from TJC and The University of Texas at Tyler to that same region of northern Costa Rica to work on service projects much like those the Peace Corps oversaw in the 1960s. The professors from UT Tyler and TJC who are taking their students for the service projects both are former Peace Corps Volunteers that served in Latin America and are fluent in Spanish. We have connected with local leaders, some of whom I knew as children 40 years ago and we are now working with a new generation of Peace Corps Volunteers. This spring, UT Tyler President Dr. Rod Mabry and his wife, Merle, will accompany me and Donna as we assist with projects in Dos Rios, Costa Rica, focusing on public health. It will be a great opportunity for these young men and women to learn about community service and about helping others. In addition to performing short comedic skits for children on such topics as first aid and healthy living, our group will work to place a new roof on a rural public health clinic, which provides primary and preventive health care for residents. Our student nurses will also help with some basic health assessments. This will be the first time one of our groups has worked extensively with Peace Corps volunteers based in Costa Rica, and we hope it is the beginning of a continuing partnership to provide service projects to the region that are beneficial to the residents while providing memorable experiences and encounters for our students.
Michael Metke President, Tyler Junior College 2