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CLC Alumni Welcome You will be happy to know that your alma mater is providing a quality, affordable education to nearly 5,000 students. CLC offers more than 60 degree and diploma programs designed for transfer to four-year universities or to qualify students for immediate employment. Approximately 92% of our students in career programs find jobs in their related fields. Take a moment to browse through the Central Lakes College website to see the current happenings on campus. It's always a pleasure to hear from past students whether in person, by phone or via email. I may be reached by phone at 218-855-8135 or by emailing jbeckmann@clcmn.edu. It's an encouragement to current and future students when Alumni share their stories of their time spent taking classes at CLC, and of their accomplishments in the years after. Jean Beckmann ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
In going over the list of Central Lakes College alums from the Brainerd area, I came across Andy's name. Although I had never been introduced to him, I knew of him through his wife, Tina. Tina and I worked together in a local Long Term Care facility prior to my employment with CLC. Thanks to Tina's loving spousal persuasion, I was able to meet with her and Andy in their home recently to learn more about his experience at Brainerd Community College and his accomplishments in the years after. Andy was born and raised in a military family, the second of three children. His father was a Major in the Marine Corps, having been a pilot during the Vietnam War. As a child, his family moved quite a bit, as most military families do. It wasn't until the age of 12 that Andy had a permanent place to call home. Upon his father's retirement from the Marine Corps, Andy's family moved to the Brainerd Lakes area and has been here since. Unsure of what he wanted to do after graduating from high school in 1975, Andy enrolled in the Liberal Arts program at Brainerd Community College. That year it happened that BCC had three of the Dunlap men attending classes at the same time and in the same program. Andy, his older brother, Thomas, and their father were students during the same timeframe. While attending BCC Andy worked two part-time jobs, one of which was with Dean's Auto in Baxter. It was there that he began to take an interest in cars and even more so the mechanics that made them tick. Upon his graduation from BCC in the Spring of 1978, Andy enrolled in the airplane mechanic program at Winona Vo-Tech. After one year, he received his Airframe License then began an apprenticeship for a year and a half at Anderson Aero under the instruction of Walter Mount, a WWII Veteran, of Stewartville . There is much to be said for someone who invests their time into taking someone under their "wing" and showing them the ropes; as a 30 year friendship has resulted from Andy's year and a half apprenticeship with Walter. This is something that Andy has willingly embraced as he himself has had five apprentices working under him during the last several years. Andy fully understands the need to give of oneself and talents to the next generation. Soon after Andy and Tina married in the Fall of 1980, they moved back to the Brainerd Lakes area where he began a 28 year career with Airmotive Enterprise, Inc. as an airplane mechanic. After being challenged a time or two on the depth of his knowledge (regarding planes, that is) and being told he was "just a mechanic", he was hit with the drive to work toward achieving his pilot's license. Andy planned to nip that stereotype in the bud, and fast. Originally, he was licensed strictly for recreational purposes. As the years passed, he became licensed in Commercial Instrument, Multi-engine, Sea Planes, and as Flight Instructor just to name a few (yes, there's more!). In February 2008 Andy accepted a position with FedEx "haulin boxes", as he so eloquently put it, to and from Rochester five days per week. As of the date of our meeting he'd logged 242 trips and has not grown tired of seeing the same tree tops. Andy's passion for being a pilot and drive to accomplish yet another goal (to earn his helicopter license) was more than evident to me. Much to their pleasure, Andy and Tina's fourteen year old son, Joe, has acquired Andy's interest in mechanics and planes. From the age of 2, Joe has been Andy's little shadow at the Brainerd Airport. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that Airmotive has another Dunlap on the payroll one day. Thanks again, Dunlap's, for having me in your home. I'm so glad we're friends! ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Although we have worked together for almost a year, I just recently met Denise to learn about her not only as an Alumna of CLC, but that of a fellow co-worker as well. We were joined by Diane Scearcy, Executive Director of the CLC Foundation, and spent our time together talking girl-talk about our husbands, children, jobs, our pasts, and, yes, dental work! When Denise began her general studies at BCC, she was a single parent, having been recently divorced, with two children at home. Up until the time of her enrollment, her full-time job was that of a stay at home mom tending to her family and her home. She speaks of herself as being a woman who was extremely shy, scared, and one who had much trouble looking people in the eye. Had she not shared this with me, I would have never guessed I was enjoying lunch with the same woman; as I found her to be extremely pleasant, confident, and very easy to talk to. Soon after she began her studies at BCC, Denise met a counselor there by the name of Dave Sjoblad. One of Dave's responsibilities was to facilitate a focus group for non-traditional students. These students would meet on a regular basis; sharing their individual struggles and triumphs with each other. Sjoblad took Denise under his wing; encouraging her and seeing her through the ups and downs of college life as a single parent and as a non-traditional student. A special bond was formed between the two of them that has lasted to this day. If you ask Denise, she attributes much of her success today to Sjoblad. She speaks of him with great fondness, and admits she still sends him a Father's Day card every year. Once her general studies were completed, she enrolled in the 11 month Dental Assisting Program under the instruction of LeAnn Schoenle at Brainerd Vo-Tech, whom she now is privileged to work with side by side. Soon after graduation in 1996 she married Rick Segler and began her internship with Lakes Dental Care in Brainerd. She was eventually hired as a full-time permanent employee; staying with them for 11 years, during which time she gave birth to two more children, until her acceptance of her current position with CLC. When asked what she misses from working in a dental office, she most assuredly says, "the patients". Her love for them was evident. She found great joy in seeing them come back for their regular check-ups; getting to know them, young and old. When asked what she enjoys most about being employed with CLC in the Dental program, Denise was quick to respond, "the clinical days". For Denise it's all about the patients. It's about taking a moment to learn something new about them and building relationships. It's about giving of herself to comfort those who are scared of an impending procedure. It's about caring for them with utmost integrity. It seems these days whatever business I patronize locally, I come in contact with someone who is an Alumni of Central Lakes College. And slowly but surely, I am realizing that many of my colleagues were students here, too "back in the day". I look forward to hearing more stories of how this aspect of their lives has come "full circle", just like Denise's.
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According to Webster's Dictionary, the definition of ambitious is "having a strong desire for success or achievement". After meeting Andy Dunlap, I believe this definition fits him to a T.
For Denise Segler of rural Brainerd one thing in life has come full circle. Twelve years ago she enrolled as a non-traditional student in the Dental Assisting Program at Brainerd Vocational Technical College in Brainerd after taking her General Studies at Brainerd Community College. This past October she accepted a position as a College Lab Assistant with Central Lakes College in the very same Dental Assisting Program with which she proudly graduated from.