I am often asked a simple question: Why do you do it? Why choose a career in higher education administration, and why take on the responsibility of serving as a college president? The answer is not found in a title or an office. It is found each May, when students of every age, background, and life experience walk across a stage to receive a degree they once wondered if they would ever earn.
As we begin another spring semester at Redlands Community College, the campus is filled with the familiar energy of a new start, students returning to classes, faculty preparing courses, and staff supporting the daily work that keeps a college moving forward. While spring brings many activities, commencement remains the most meaningful moment of the year. Graduation is where purpose becomes visible. It is where effort, persistence, and belief culminate in achievement.
Redlands Community College is an open-access institution. That mission matters. We serve students who may be first-generation college students, students from low-income backgrounds, working parents, veterans, or adults returning to school after years away from the classroom. Some arrive carrying doubt shaped by standardized test scores or past academic experiences. At Redlands, we make it clear that a number on a test does not define a person’s potential. Opportunity should never be limited by a single metric.
Why does this matter? Because earning a college degree often does more than change one life. It alters the direction of an entire family. When students graduate, they do not just gain a credential. They gain confidence, access to better employment opportunities, higher earning potential, and greater career mobility. More importantly, they become an example. Children, siblings, and future generations see what is possible. Education becomes part of a family’s story.
Working in higher education is meaningful because it is work that creates lasting impact. Colleges do not simply award degrees; they expand opportunity, strengthen communities, and support local economies. As workforce needs evolve, Redlands continues to adapt, adding programs aligned with employer demand and offering affordable, accessible pathways that help students move efficiently into the workforce or continue their education.
Redlands Community College is growing, but growth is not our only goal. Impact is. We meet students where they are, support them as they learn, and celebrate them when they succeed. Being a small part of that journey is why this work matters, why it is worth the effort, and why each semester begins with optimism. Graduation is the reminder that education changes lives, and that is reason enough to keep showing up every day and leading by example.
