During my senior year of high school I worked non-stop so that I could save enough money to take a year off from school and travel around the World. Needless to say, I had no idea where I would go to college after I returned home from my grand adventure in the Fall of 1996. So like so many others, I signed up for classes at LCC. It was fast, easy and affordable. What surprised me was how exciting it was. I took a geology class that lasted one week in central Oregon where we camped, walked through fossil beds and sledded down glaciers. I took political science classes with Steve Candee who brought the debates of our time to life and for the first time in my life, forced me to ask hard questions about my own values and beliefs. I was also surprised by how much student activism was happening. I interned with OSPIRG my first term until I completed my Associates Degree. It was a thrill to practice what I was beginning to preach in class out in the "real world". I was part of a group of students who helped LCC negotiate affordable bus passes for students. I also learned about threats to our local waterways and how to write a press-release and talk to the media about the problem.

I transferred to the U of O in 1998 and majored in Women's Studies and Planning, Public Policy and Management. I continued my involvement with OSPIRG at the U of O. I met my husband on a campaign and have spent the past 15 years working on various campaigns around the country.

I will always remember LCC as the school that welcomed me with open arms, introduced me to academia and gave me practical experience so I could actually test out my hopes and dreams in the "real-world".

Merriah Fairchild - Lives in Portland, OR with her husband and two daughters. She is currently the Board Chair for the Northwest Mother's Milk Bank.