Jason Bonde

My RCTC People:

TRIO Student Support Services; Women’s Basketball; Athletics

My First-Generation Story:

I first attended college out of high school because I wanted to play college basketball. I was never a great student because I simply did not like school. I loved sports and still do to this day. My first year was at a Minnesota university and got off to a rocky start as I was away from home for the first time in my life and I was not as successful playing basketball as I wanted to be. It was hard, it was challenging, and I did not know how to manage it. I soon left that school and transferred to RCTC. However,  I did not give it a chance, as I became less interested in school than ever before. I stopped going to classes and eventually was kicked out for bad grades.

My turning point came five years later after working horrible jobs and going nowhere. I decided to reenroll at RCTC and start over. I was sick of working bad jobs that I could not see myself doing for the rest of my life. I reached out to the men’s Basketball coach and asked to join the team. My motivation for school was now different.  I knew my education was the key to success in life. I wanted to use basketball to help me stay motivated and to help me earn a degree. I did earn a degree and then used that as motivation to achieve  a master’s degree in education.  Now I am working at RCTC as the Director of TRIO Student Support Services and as the Women’s Basketball coach. Life happens and we make decisions that affect us every day. Making the decision to go back to school was the best one I ever made. It changed my life and now I am working in an environment that I love and it doesn’t even feel like work. This is a passion and I get to do something every day that drives me to do better.

My advice for other First-Generation Students:

It is never too late to do something that will better yourself. The resources and the people at a campus like RCTC are endless. People who work here care about you and they will do what they can to help you. If you are motivated to get an education, you will. Many of us just need to find that motivation and what drives us. When I found what I wanted to do for a career, then school was easier since I was interested in the subjects I was studying, I was interested in learning what I would eventually use to help others. Rely on the people around you; no one in this world has ever been successful on their own. Learn from others so you may grow into the individual you want to become.

Alissa Oelfke, Ph.D.

 My RCTC People: I work in Academic Affairs, as the Associate Vice President of Academic Operations and Institutional Effectiveness.

 My First-Generation Story:

When I was in high school, I participated in a TRIO program called Upward Bound. I had always been a pretty smart kid, but my parents had not gone to college. They recognized that I could be successful in college, but they didn’t know how to get me there. They had 4 other kids at home, and both worked to make ends meet. They weren’t sure how to help me explore potential occupations or how to help me apply to different schools and apply for financial aid. But I had a mentor in Upward Bound who always told me I could be anything I wanted to be, if I put my mind to it. Upward Bound allowed me to live on a college campus during the summer months while I was in high school. I got to see what taking college courses was like, and I got to live in the dorms to see what that was like. During those summer sessions, they taught me how to be a successful college student, they took me on multiple campus visits, and they helped me complete my college applications and the FAFSA. I was accepted to Marquette University on nearly a full scholarship. I graduated with a degree in Math and a minor in Business Administration in four years, with very little debt. While at Marquette, I became a math tutor for their Upward Bound program, to see if I could inspire others the way my mentor had inspired me. A few years after I graduated from college, I had the opportunity to go to Washington, DC to share my story with legislators who were making decisions about which TRIO programs to continue funding in the federal budget. That trip made a big impact on me because I got to meet many other TRIO program alumni who had successful careers. We talked about the challenge of coming from a low-income, first generation college-bound situation and having the support from TRIO funding to help us get to a degree, and the impact that had on our professional lives.

Since then, I’ve had a successful first career in banking, insurance, and investment services, which led me to pursue a Master’s degree in Business Administration, and a PhD in Management Education. I started teaching during my MBA program, and have been working in my 2nd career in higher education administration ever since. Something else has happened since I received that first degree–my dad went back to school and got an accounting degree, my daughter has earned a degree in Arts Administration, both of my sisters went on to college (one of them also completed law school), and two of my brothers have degrees now as well. It just took one of us to go through to provide an example for the rest of our family–to show them that college is achievable!

 My advice for other First-Generation Students:

I would probably give the same advice that I received from my TRIO/Upward Bound mentor so many years ago–find what you are passionate about and make that your work. It’s so important to love what you are doing. And–you can be anything you want to be if you put your mind to it! You can do it for yourself, but getting through college is likely to have a big impact on your family as well. You never know who else you might inspire!