megan capp

CTE programs spark student’s passion for learning

Megan Capp has been a farmer for years. With Rogue Community College, she’s taking it up a notch. Actually, three notches. “I’m triple majoring,” Megan says with a smile. She tells the story — “mechatronics, electronics and manufacturing/engineering technology.” It all started with a welding class in 2018. “I wanted the skill, and then it snowballed. When I realized what I could do at RCC,...

Kaloa

Soccer lover doesn’t let pandemic block her goals

Kaloa Neukan loves soccer. It’s always been her passion — and she’s good at it.   She played soccer in high school and was offered a scholarship by Rogue Community College to attend classes and play for the Ospreys. Just days before tuition was due, the coach left and Kaloa’s scholarship fell through. Kaloa was living with a host family at the time and they helped her...

Portrait of Iain Pangburn

Young business owner was learning to weld before he could drive

Iain Pangburn was born and raised in Grants Pass. His early education was mostly homeschool and charter schools, but when he was 15, he got tired of the high school curriculum and took a placement test at Rogue Community College. At first, he pursued welding. Iain had always liked the idea of building things and knew he didn’t want an office job. After meeting a...

military services badge

RCC helps student veteran forge a new path — twice

Everyone’s path through higher education is different. Some start college right out of high school, others work for years before enrolling at a community college. There is no wrong way to be a student. As Keaton Fournier says, “The biggest thing I’ve learned is that it’s never too late to learn, it’s never too late to reevaluate and change what path you’re on.” Born and...

Ben Davis

RCC’s flexible schedule helps future teacher prepare for transfer to university

Ben Davis didn’t finish high school knowing what he wanted to do next. He worked in landscaping jobs for a while, then became a teacher’s aide at an elementary school. For years, the idea of going to college had been hovering around him, but he hadn’t known what he would want to study. As a teacher’s aide, he got to explore his passion for teaching....

Erika and Brina

RCC online student: ‘I felt like my professors were really invested in teaching to help students learn’

Brina Collins could be the star of that old Johnny Cash song — she’s been everywhere. After graduating high school in Ohio, she moved to a remote Alaskan island. It became difficult to access medical treatment for her child, who has a rare lung condition, so she came back to the mainland in 2020, moving to Oregon to be closer to medical facilities and find...

Kristen Morales, right, is pictured with business instructor Christina Wooten at the 2022 RCC Honors Night

Initially nervous, business student finds support to succeed at Rogue Community College

At the time Kristen Morales finished high school in 2014, the question of what to do with the rest of her life was overwhelming. She took a year off of school to try to figure it out. She started at Rogue Community College in 2015 but still didn’t know what exactly she wanted. Always having been drawn to business, she took some prerequisite courses but...

holly smyth

Online classes provide flexibility for working mom

Originally from Merced County, California, Holly Smyth has been in Grants Pass since 2005 and started attending classes at Rogue Community College to get her GED in 2012. Years later, she decided to return to finish what she had started and received her GED in October 2019. She is now working for her associate degree. “I know I need an education,” Holly says, “because I...

Portrait of Nik Sorensen and family

RCC fits the bill for pre-med student with a mission

Nik Sorensen had already earned two master’s degrees when he decided to pivot in his career path and enrolled in science courses at Rogue Community College. Since graduating high school in Talent, Oregon, in 2007, Nik has been on a journey to discover his passion. He served a two-year church mission in Taiwan, then attended Brigham Young University, where he double-majored in history and Chinese,...