Path to College Dreams Strewn With Stones Entering college is often seen as an exciting chapter in life – a time for independence, new friendships, and self-discovery. But for many students, it can also be when mental health struggles, especially depression, begin to surface. Growing up, movies and people at school made college seem for me like the ultimate dream: moving away, being independent, living in dorms, going to parties, the whole deal. But as I got older, I started

PUSHBACK AGAINST TRUMP ADMINISTRATION Unfortunately, it’s not a bold statement to say that we live in some very troubling and interesting times. No matter what side of the political fence you sit on, I think that’s something we can all agree upon. I have never been very active when it comes to politics, but as a result of current events, that’s changed. So, on Tuesday, March 4, I decided I would attend my first protest, in downtown Portland. The day began with me nervously ta

Avoiding Collisions in Idealisms Everyone in this world has some idea of what an ideal society should look like, and we often place our impossible concepts of perfection into competition with the impossible conceptions of others. Because of this, we divide ourselves, pushing us into narrow paths of thinking. By learning about the perspectives of others, however, we are able to enrich both ourselves and the communities around us. Yet, if you think about one person’s ideal soci

2025 INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY AT MHCC Celebrating International Women’s Day at MHCC means honoring the women who have continuously worked hard to achieve their own personal dreams and make positive impacts in our communities. The focus in this year’s event, held March 6 in the Student Union, was to recognize some of the inspirational and hardworking women at MHCC, including those in vitally important healthcare fields. Special guest speaker Fernanda Baños Cervantes, communi

Community Announcement: White Ducky has gone missing! The White Ducky in the Visual Arts Gallery fountain on the MHCC Gresham campus was last sighted, and documented, at 1:03 p.m. on Feb 25. They were reported missing at 12:31 p.m. on Feb. 27, when they were not present for their most recent photo shoot opportunity. (They /Them pronouns assumed, as they have not declared a gender preference.) Did White Ducky willingly leave their wounded Blue Ducky friend behind and find anot

‘Coughing Blood Together’ Lights up VA Gallery “Little moments of frozen theater” are currently on display in the MHCC Visual Arts Gallery, a thought- provoking series of creative scenes inviting visitors to peek in and ponder the artist’s messages and sculpting skills. Photos by Prisma Flores Montana-based artist Tom Foolery has been creating these armature dioramas – featuring small-scale figures crafted from found items – for years, beginning as a fun hobby. “I took a mous

Union to vote on new contract The MHCC administration and the college’s Classified Employees Association have reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract, both sides have confirmed. The pending agreement reached on March 5, to be voted on by CEA members by March 17, would replace the previous five-year contract that expired last June 30. Mt. Hood’s District Board has scheduled an executive session prior to its regularly scheduled meeting on March 19 to address the n

Exploring Outdoor Sports Whether you’re a skier, snowboarder, hiker, rock climber, or a complete newbie to outdoor sports, MHCC’s Wildside Club has something for you. Photos provided by Brooklyn Noel We welcome anyone who is interested in learning new skills – or improving them – and is a bit of a thrill seeker to join our adventures. It’s the perfect way to meet amazing people who have the same passion for the outdoors and become a part of our supportive community.In the few

The Promises and Pitfalls at MHCC AI – artificial intelligence – is gradually shaping the way we interact with technology, from enhancing search engines to providing grammar suggestions in real time. Its uses are growing, especially now in education, where it offers new ways to support teaching and learning. Curious about how AI is being used at MHCC, I reached out to instructors and advisors to learn more. My aim was to discover how AI is being implemented in our Mt. Hood cl

VA GALLERY FEATURES ARTIST SMITH CLAUDEL During February, the Visual Arts Gallery at Mt. Hood hosted an exhibit by Kim Smith Claudel entitled “Tender to the Touch,” which highlights the airy spaciousness of the Gallery, and primarily plays with the intersection of “found objects” and a sense of their movements in relation to each other. Photo by Ken Perez I caught up with the artist herself in the gallery on Feb. 17 to ask about her processes and her advice for our own aspiri

All photos by Catherine Green I got to see the final dress rehearsal of “Jesus Christ Superstar” staged this month by MHCC’s theatre program and was delighted with the artistic choices and performances of the cast and crew. The heart and passion the performers brought to the singing and dancing and emoting was impressive and a joy to behold. After an opening weekend Feb. 21-23, there remains one weekend left to go see the production: Head to the main College Theatre in the Pe

Schedule made by S. Cousins Want your event added to our list? Email us at theadvocate@mhcc.edu.

High School Vs. Real Life The biggest lie I’ve been sold in my four years of high school is the idea that life will just fall into place. Every coming-of-age movie on Netflix shows the character walking across the graduation stage, heading straight to some Ivy League school, ready to conquer the world. Images sourced from web. But they don’t show the sleepless nights spent filling out endless scholarship forms, the constant worry about how to pay for basic expenses like car i

Finding Warmth in Faith Vietnam is a country with a longstanding religious tradition – with both nativist and more recently embraced faiths – in which Catholicism is a central part. Introduced to the country in the early years of the 20th century, Catholicism has become an indispensable part of the Vietnamese people. Photos by Thien Trieu Tran In the United States, the first Vietnamese people to arrive were mostly Catholics who left everything behind to seek a new future, a n

A proposed Mt. Hood Community College operating budget for the 2025-26 academic year includes an increase in tuition – but would still exceed expected revenue, pushing the college’s reserves to the limit, according to the college’s budget director. At the Feb. 19 MHCC District Board of Education meeting, Jennifer DeMent, the vice president of finance and administration, presented the college’s budget assumptions for the upcoming year. To address rising costs, a tuition increa

UNION OUTLINES STRIKE THREAT A storm of a different type is brewing on campus. Representatives of the college’s Classified Employees Association who addressed the Feb. 11 meeting of the Mt. Hood student body government delivered a strong message: The bargaining group that includes MHCC’s non-teaching and non-administrative staff is prepared to strike soon if a new labor contract isn’t reached with the college. CEA employees attending an MHCC District Board meeting in November

From Federal to the Classroom Based on interview with MHCC political science instructor Janet Campbell, who led a Feb. 11 Zoom discussion on the topic. What is an Executive Order? On Jan. 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing over 3 million enslaved individuals across 10 states. However, the enforcement of this order was dependent on Union military victories. While monumental, the Emancipation Proclamation was not passed as a law but

GOAL OF SUPPORT FOR ALL STAYS ALIVE AT MT HOOD How empowered do you feel in your everyday life? Do you feel like you can do what you find fun when you want to? Do you feel that you can pursue your dreams and catch them? Do you feel free to express who you came into this life to be? Do you feel that you can “Be your dream”? As I chat with folks in our MHCC community, I often hear fresh concerns with what is happening in the White House and how it will affect their lives. Man

FOR A NEW GENERATION This month, the college will be treated to the Theatre Department’s third staging of the musical “Jesus Christ Superstar,” first performed at Mt. Hood 1983 and more recently in 2002. This history has resulted in a multigenerational tradition, as one of the crew members of a previous production has a child on the current production. And don’t be surprised to find MHCC alumni coming to check it out, too. ‘Superstar’ was born when composer Andrew Lloyd Webbe

The employment office’s successful efforts to increase the wages of work study positions and to better connect students to those positions created a ‘perfect storm.’ On Jan. 15, Christopher Natelborg, the director of Financial Aid at MHCC, informed students participating in Federal Work Study positions that maximum dollar awards for Winter and Spring terms would be reduced, from $2,400 to $1,500 per term. According to Natelborg, the college had so successfully increased stude