Up close and personal

Tara Brown-Ogilvie knows that at SPC, she’s not just a number.

During her senior year of high school, Tara Brown-Ogilvie was a dual enrollment student at SPC. She loved the college’s Sign Language Interpretation program and enjoyed being on the Clearwater Campus. However, she still went through with her previous plans to go to a major university.

Once there, Brown-Ogilvie saw a different side of college life. Advisors discouraged her from pursuing her chosen major in wildlife conservation. She was turned away from sign language classes because preference was given to older students. She found the campus was too busy, lacking the quiet space she needed to study.

So, she gave up $14,000 in financial aid and came home to SPC.

She’s happy with her choice. “I figured at SPC, if I needed to, I could get my two-year degree and go on to get a four-year degree at a university, if I pleased,” Tara Brown-Ogilvie said. “At SPC, you can say hello to your professors and they know your name. You are not in a class of 300 people so you get that special attention.”

Tara Brown-Ogilvie said her instructors are very caring. One of her teachers helped her put together a PowerPoint presentation while another offers her one-on-one help with her grammar. That is a much different experience than her friend, who said her professors at a state university seem to try to weed students out.
 
“At SPC, they don’t want to weed you out,” she said. “They actually want you
to succeed.”

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