One week from today the 29th of June will be the 1st anniversary of the closing of SJ. I was recently asked by another former employee if I was over the closing yet. I had to truthfully answer that I was not and might not ever get over it. How about the rest of you out there? Past students, faculty and staff, how are you all doing one year after the ax fell? I know I’m interested in hearing and I bet others are too. Please post a comment on how things have turned out. Maybe you could list a few good things along with the bad.
Here is my list:
The Bad:
I miss the fine people from students to employees, but most especially all the wonderful volunteers.
I still feel the school could have been saved with proper management and I’m still heart sick that such a historic and important institution closed after 130 years of operations.
I worry what will happen to the historic buildings.
The Good:
I’ve had more time to spend with my family, most especially my grandsons.
I have not missed the middle of the night calls about something being broken.
I had lots of time to work on my house and to find out what partial retirement is all about.
I don’t wake up in the middle of the night worrying about what’s going to break next and I can tell you there has been a lot less stress in my life.
So, as much as I miss SJ maybe the good has out weighed the bad. How about you?
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11 comments:
I too still grieve. The transition to remote living and producing fish on a massive scale has been difficult, but im adjusting. I miss the wonderful people of Sitka, and the opportunity I had to educate students and visitors alike. My job at SJ was one of the most pleasurable work experiences I have ever had, in spite of everything that life seemed to throw at us.
Hope everyone in Sitka is still doing well, look for me to drift through once the season here is over, somewhere around early november!!
I realized awhile back that it truly is a grieving process. At first I just thought I was, naturally, upset. I then spoke with a friend of mine, who is a school therapist, and she informed me that what many of us are going through is a feeling of loss, not too unlike how we might feel after a death.
SJ was a lot of things to a lot of people. To me, SJ was my home. The people there were my family. I felt closer to many people there than I do to almost anyone I know now. There was something unique about the community. I still hesitate, when telling people about SJ, to speak those words I find so hard to say: the school closed on June 29th, 2007. When asked why, my only answer I can muster is a weak shrug. SJ could have been saved. But the commitment to do so would have had to start years ago.
I suppose, on the upside, there is a lot less stress for a lot of people. That is always good.
I miss you all, and have a very happy summer.
Nicole writes such a moving response. My feelings echo hers but for different reasons. I believe that PCUSA should have never turned the college over to people who were only interested in BIG. The mission of the school changed so much after the private trustees took over. PCUSA, has a mission program covering many countries and venues and hopefully they won't start something again and then abandon it.
An egotistical narcissist named the Rev. Dr. Dooby killed SJC, and then got rewarded for it by PCUSA. I say shame on PCUSA.
One year ago....
It is a bit overwhelming to try to remember all the details of this past year. The mandatory meeting for all staff and faculty in the Chapel was the beginning of the end for the College as it was, I can see that now. I was shocked at the time. But I was ready to begin my time of volunteering to keep the animals alive and healthy at the hatchery. I was once again presented with an extreme challenge. (In 1992, while working for Ocean Farms of Hawaii, I found myself employed by a company going through bankruptcy, and tho it was difficult, Lila and I survived it just fine.) I came to work on July 1st, without a contract, and as a volunteer, knowing what I had to do, and did what needed to be done. I remember how I suggested to James to take some time off, and have a little vacation. (We all needed one, that's for sure!) It wasn't until around the 16th or so that David offered James and I a month-to- month contract, and yet this was terminated on Halloween. My last day of working for SJC was November 30th.
OK, here's some of the bad:
My dear friends, my Fish Culture students, did not come to class last fall, or this past spring. It's as if everyone took the year off. It made me sad that I could not do what I had come to love here at SJ, and that's teaching / sharing my experience to sophomores.
I'm thankful to Chilkat Management for hiring me during December, but what haunts me is the memory of "doing the rounds" of the empty buildings; boarded windows not allowing much light in, and using a flashlight to see, as I walked the halls of Whitmore, Stevenson, Yaw, North Pacific Hall, etc. in the early morning hours. It was like walking through a virtual ghost town. I could still see the faces of people sitting at desks, but now the offices were dead, abandoned places of work, with papers and books strewn all around, as if everyone had evacuated because of a tsunami alert. It was eerie, and I'm glad that's over now.
More of the bad: Worrying, wondering, losing sleep over it, feeling depressed, not knowing about the future. It was difficult to enjoy the Christmas holidays.
OK, here's the Good: Wonderful people came to James' and my aid, people who cared. Almost immediately Susan was there, ready to help do whatever needed to be done. And before long, the local High Schools came to assist. I actually had students after all!! We took a million pink eggs, and a million chum eggs, and 150,000 coho eggs, and almost 100,000 chinook eggs. We had as good a year as I have had since 2003, back when there were so many water problems. The Friends of the Hatchery volunteer group was born! Education never stopped here, at least not in the Sage Building. The Good of this past year can be summarized as follows: The People Who Cared came forth, and offered their assistance, and that's what made it possible for the hatchery to survive. I could not have done this alone. All the fin clipping, and the coded wire tagging, and the ponding, and the transfers, and the FEEDING. And for what reason was all this done? It was to continue the legacy of the Environmental Science Program at SJC, where so many people had worked and learned how to be professionals. It was to show that nothing is impossible. It was to prove that the hatchery is good, and right, for Sitka, and how important a tool the
Sage Building is for education in this State.
I remember hearing that someone thought that I was in "dreamland", doing this volunteer thing in December. Well, I'm glad I ignored that negativity. I found myself working with the greatest bunch of dedicated folks I've ever had the pleasure to know. They are all my Friends, and I will be forever grateful for their help, and camaraderie.
The rest of the Good: The SSSC has a good shot at keeping the hatchery going. All those letters of support, from all the Friends, made a big difference!! The Governor couldn't possibly ignore such a huge request for support, and I'm thankful to her for approving the request for funding.
Now I look forward to getting back to "normal". Lila and I can do this, and we will continue to give it our all. We are busy with fundraising for the SSSC, and giving tours, and teaching Americorps volunteers, and doing facility maintenance, and continuing fish culture of cohos and chinook, and now I watch as the spawning shed roof gets repaired (thanks to Americorps!!) and the fish ladder is on, and the kings are on their way back. We have so much to be thankful for.
THE VOLUNTEERS ARE THE REAL HEROES. I THANK YOU, EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU, FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART.
The hatchery program lives on, and the Aquarium and Wetlab have come back to life, thanks to volunteers. This is GOOD.
Thank you, Marcel, for inviting us to relive this past year. I'm going to go have another cup of coffee, and hope that someone else makes an entry.
Dan,
I’m glad you posted such a great comment. I can tell your dedication comes from the bottom of your heart. You are to be commended for all you have done to save the hatchery and to help spawn the SSCS. Thanks for both!
Like you I hope more people post a comment. I know I’d sure like to hear how things are going for laid off workers, dislocated students, past volunteers and the many others that SJ touched over the years.
Thanks to everyone who has commented.
Good: My new school never mentions budget problems, and I haven't seen any bugs burrowing into the staircases. I have met some great new teachers, including my advisor, who has way too much faith in me. I've met a few good friends. And, I eat dinner about once a week with my dad.
Bad: I'm out of SJ, and out of Sitka. The people at SJ where so familiar, good and bad, it was family. That's gone.
It made certain affairs more difficult. This was one plus.
It's been a while since I've checked up here, and I wanted to comment on this topic. Brandy H., James V. and I were all in Juneau over the summer, with James and I working on Campus, and Brandy working for CCFR (the fire dept). On the one year aniversary we all kind of looked at each other and said "well, I guess we're only going back to Sitka for vacations from now on."
I've had some good things happen this year. I met a musician who's career I'm managing, the link to his webpage is below, and I'd never have met him if I'd stayed in Juneau.
Brandy has her EMT 1 certifications for the State of Alaska, and is plannning on pursuing her paramedic's in the future.
But there has been bad as well. I've watch people who were supposed to be SJ students, those that never made it to SJ because of the closeure get lost in a disconnected campus community here at UAS. These people, some are doing well with grades and such but most havent found the social and emotional security and stability that the campus community provided us at SJ. It makes me sad, because you truly had to be a little odd to fit in at SJ, and even at a school as small as UAS, the odd factor is as much a problem as it was an asset at SJ.
Am I still greiving the loss of my school and community? Yes. I am. Have I found something good at my new school? Yeah, but I still miss Sitka and SJ.
Oops, forgot the link!
www.tylerpreston.com
I miss the people and being able to come back some day and see students walking on campus. I actually planned to come back to Sitka and use my alumni pass at the Hames. Memories are just that.
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