TRIO student wants to help kids

By Nikolina Hatton

Kathy Thompson came to Mt. Hood Community College to take jewelry making class, but then she started talking to advisors.  Now, after going through Transitions in Spring 2005, her goal is to eventually get her bachelor’s in art therapy.

Thompson, 38, said the Transitions program helped change her view of seeing herself in college and being successful. It, “prepared [me] to feel confident in myself.” She said self-esteem is the core of the program. She said you have to participate and it’s more of an interactive group.

Now she is in the TRIO program, a federally funded program for select students meeting criteria relating to income level and first generation college status. She said they have helped her a lot with her personal life and school. She listed some of the services TRIO offers, like tutoring services, advising, computers, and book loans. If you need a book and it’s too expensive, you can check that book out for the term, she said.

“They motivate you to be here,” and to look at the big picture, she said. She said it’s an encouraging program.

Information from the program said TRIO was specifically designed for eligible students pursuing a bachelor’s degree. Thompson is one of these students. She plans on being at Mt. Hood for another three years, and then transferring to Marylhurst University to get her degree in art therapy.

But Thompson my not just get her bachelor’s. “Why stop at my degree?” she said. “Why not go on to get my masters or doctorate?”

She said the people group she really wants to reach is the youth, school-age children to high school. She calls them, “the lost generation.”

“A child can be encouraged and helped more quickly than an adult,” Thompson said.

She says art therapy is not like regular therapy.  She said it’s, “not sitting on the couch. [It’s] being creative with that person.” Thompson calls art, a “healing form”. She said you bring it to that level and it brings out the emotions.

Thompson explains why she loves are: “the healing part, the creativity, the enthusiasm, the excitement, the outcome. That’s completely what it’s all about.”

Thompson, who has three children said getting a degree gets a person on the path of being self-sufficient, which she said is the core need of single parents.

This term she has taken a leap by going full time with 12 credits, and she’s doing work-study. She said she loves school or she wouldn’t be here. “I get bored when we’re off terms.” She said college keeps the mind fresh and keeps skills up.