“It wasn’t really until junior high that I felt any awkwardness,” says Kerri Vanderbom whose older sister Mari and brother Tobi taught her to play baseball, basketball and cruise around their neighborhood.
Her eyes still tear up as she tells the story of the woman who brought her 15-year-old son to the remote village clinic. “He was very sick with rheumatic fever – he couldn’t walk, he had a high fever and was in a lot of pain, and he needed help immediately or he was going to die,”
Growing up I knew I wanted to be in the health care field and I also knew I did not want to be a clinician. I started my time at OSU in the Business School and then switched to Public Health my junior year. I chose to focus on health care administration – a perfect area for me as I got to use both my business skills and public health skills.
“Fifty years ago this fall, a dream came true for me as I began my freshman year in the College of Home Economics at Oregon State,” wrote Joanne Grabinski ’63 recently.
Mobility, which declines with aging, has been identified as one of the 10 hot topics in aging research, as walking difficulty reduces quality of life. Older adults who worry about their health engage in less physical activity, and those who participate in less activity are more likely to report having difficulty walking
My father was a migrant worker and we moved from Mexico to Milton-Freewater when I was 11. My parents always emphasized the importance of education, of reading, of studying hard. And they taught me to dream.