Success Stories
Worker
Returns to Train for Career as Air Tanker Pilot
by Gloria Biersdorff
"For
20 years I didn't ask for help. As soon as I asked for help, it was right
there for me," says Lane Community College student Russell Quinby,
recipient of a need-and-merit based scholarship through Bernice Staton's
$2 million gift to Lane in April 2001. In a halting voice he explains
the significance of receiving the $5,000 award at this time in his life.
"I'm staying with my grandfather, who's 91. I came here to take care of him. This scholarship enables me to not have to work part-time, to stop struggling. Now I'm guaranteed I'll have a vocation I can fall back on."
Quinby, 39, obtained his associate of applied science degree in Flight Technology in the spring of 2002. Last fall he entered the Aviation Maintenance program with the goal of becoming an air tanker pilot. He has spent the past two summers working for the U.S. Forestry Department in Redmond, OR, loading planes with fire retardant.
"LCC steered me in that direction," says Quinby. "I was looking for money for flight fees. Chief Flight Instructor Bruce Gustafson said, 'Go to Redmond.' As a result, every other term I give a presentation to first-year students about air tanker pilots."
Quinby says
he seeks meaningful ways to reciprocate Staton's altruism. "I'm overwhelmed,
not just by her generosity, but her vision. She's making a difference
for a lot of people, not just one person. I don't think Mrs. Staton wants
it back to her, but if I can give someone else a hand up...." That
"hand up" was extended to Quinby by LCC first in 1981, when
he obtained his GED through the High School Completion program. "My
dad was an alcoholic. He gave mom $40 a week, to feed six kids. I remember
a lot of puffed rice and powdered milk," he says. At 17 Quinby joined
the National Guard. "I thought, wouldn't it be easier to have one
less mouth to feed."
Over the next 18 years he traversed the country, moving in and out of
the Armed Forces and working several jobs, including fueling airplanes
in Reno, Nevada. He returned to Eugene in November 1999 to care for his
grandfather and enroll in Lane's Flight Technology program. "Lane's
got a reputation. It's a well-known program," he says.
Quinby himself has a reputation among his instructors and peers. Aviation Maintenance instructor Brian McGlynn remarks on his student's uncanny aptitude. "He's motivated, organized, enthusiastic. He has knowledge about aircraft; he can do a certain amount of peer instruction."
Flight instructor Sean Parrish echoes McGlynn's praise. "Russ is a smart guy, always prepared, always eager."
Quinby's self-assessment is diffident. "I've wasted 20 years, as far as accomplishing things, personal improvement," he says. But his optimism fuels a sense of purpose now. "This Staton Scholarship opens up other doors, maybe to a transfer degree. I love learning. How can you not? Great classmates, great instructors. After I attain my dream--which I will--do I stop dreaming? No, I go on to something else."
For more
information:
Aviation Maintenance
program, 463-5380
Flight Technology program,
463-4195
GED program, 463-5214
