“I’ll Just Always Be a Skipper,” Carrie Bearss’s Story of Finding Belonging at SC4.

Carrie Bearss has wanted to go to college ever since the day her father came home from working a thirty-hour shift at the Dunn Paper Mill. She was eight years old at the time and remembers being excited to see her father but also remembers how sad she was after noticing how bone-tired he was when they picked him up from the paper mill in the car and how he dragged himself through the doorway of their home. What stuck out most was that her father crashed on the closest couch—the one for visitor’s only, and that “you did not sit on if you were in your play clothes.”

His body completely exhausted and his clothes covered in paper pulp and coating, he looked at Carrie with tired eyes and said, “Baby, whatever you do, go to college.”

After graduating from Yale High School, Carrie enrolled at SC4. Carrie’s mother had graduated from SC4, but Carrie was the first member on either side of her family to pursue a bachelor’s degree. While a student at SC4, Carrie was an officer in Phi Theta Kappa and was in the first class of the honors program. She credits her two mentor instructors, retired English professor Tom Obee and Retired economics professor Robert Tansky (Current Member of the SC4 Board of Trustees), for recognizing her need for guidance and advice.

“Obviously, SC4 has been hugely impactful in my life. My heart is here. I really, really enjoy helping students and seeing them in the community.”

Carrie went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in human resource management from Michigan State University and worked briefly as a telecommunications and IT recruiter. She had always pictured herself working in a Chicago high rise for some large corporation but quickly realized that she missed working and living in St. Clair County. Carrie’s homes have always been on gravel roads; she’s a “country girl” through and through.

Using her experience in recruitment, she applied for a job at SC4, where she has worked ever since. She held several roles at the College earlier in her career, and during that time, she went back to school and earned her master’s in business administration from Walsh College. She has served as SC4’s Registrar since 2010, which allows her to pursue her passion for student stories and success.

“I’m interested to know what people see for themselves in the future…and always tie it back to something we offer here at the college. We are really lucky in St. Clair County to have what we have here. When you look around to the north, west, and northwest of us, there are multiple counties that have no community college…there is a bit of an educational desert. So, I’m always saying we are so lucky, and people should come and check us out.”

She continued

“I always had the encouragement of my parents…I want to be that force for students to tell them ‘You can do it no matter what your background is.’ And I remember that sometimes students don’t have that encouragement at home, so if I can be that person to help them and tell them that they can do it, then sign me up.”

Carrie explained that her work with students has become more personal in recent years.

“I have a son who attends here and another one in high school. Everybody in my kids’ schools know I work here, and it has been really fun these last few years to be in the mix with those students, seeing where they are going and helping with their questions of “When do I do this?” or “What do I do here?”, encouraging them to apply for scholarships, attend SC4, check things out, and what it means to transfer. I’ve always done that, but it has been very personal the last couple of years because my kids are in that decision realm.”

When asked about her time at SC4, Carrie said that her favorite day of the year is commencement.

“It’s amazing to think about all the different students and all the different ages that they are…All those stories make up that beautiful weave of accomplishments that we have here at the college. It’s absolutely my favorite day.”

Carrie concluded by saying