How KPC affected my life
By Jeremiah Jensen

Mark Jensen, my dad, moved here from Colorado to some property that was off the grid. He and my Mom got their start living 3 miles down a dirt trail with no electricity, running water, or telephone. Mark was working at D & A, a local grocery store, stocking shelves making decent money.

But one day he decided that his life needed a change. He started attending Kenai Peninsula College taking computer classes. It wasn’t long until he got a job on-campus starting as a computer lab aide, moving to an IT tech position and then finally, after receiving his degree, became the Network Administrator for KPC’s Kenai River Campus.

We moved out of the old cabin and into our new house in 1999. I was being home schooled. But the day came when I decided to get my GED. So I went to the KPC Learning Center and took my first college class, the GED course.

In 2002, I walked in the KPC graduation ceremony and received my General Education diploma. I have been taking classes since that spring. This began my long, strange journey of college classes at the Kenai River Campus. I began with computer and electronic courses because Mark and I started collecting pinball games and fixing them and I was interested in electronics.

After my first semester I needed a job, and Lynda Brazier, a computer and office systems professor at the time, was looking for a lab aide for the computer lab. I started working in the lab, mostly at night, helping students with software problems and homework. At first I didn’t know any of the students and hardly any of the faculty. But slowly I started meeting people and getting to know the staff and faculty. I worked hard, got good grades in my classes, and became active with the student government and well known throughout the campus. I was promoted from lab aide to IT Technician and became even better known and liked.

Through KPC I forged many important relationships that have helped me further my career and reach my goals. At the beginning of the 2006 spring semester, my last semester for now, Scott Kraxberger, division chair of Business and Industry, contacted me about a job opening at Schlumberger, an oil field service company. Scott said he would recommend me for the Electronics Tech job on the North Slope. It wasn’t long until I was contacted about the position and after some of the staff, faculty, and even KPC Director Gary Turner, wrote me very convincing letters of recommendation, I got the job.

Because of my good grades and skills I developed, and the interpersonal relationships that formed at KPC, I am a productive member of society and have a great chance to be successful in life. KPC has affected my life in many positive ways and will give me the opportunity to make a good life for my future family.

I think everyone should attend at least a couple of classes at KPC. I would like to say “thanks” to everyone who stood beside me and pushed me forward and helped me be who I am today.