Chemeketa Voices

Learning the hard way:
Alex Morales

Alejandro “Alex” Morales expected Chemeketa Community College to be stricter than his experiences in high school.

“In high school my teachers were pretty lenient and I learned that I could turn in certain assignments and not others and still get an ‘A’ in the class. It didn’t serve me well,” said Morales.

Morales, 19, enrolled in Chemeketa’s Early College High School program thinking he could probably get by turning assignments a couple of days late or even a couple hours after class. After teachers refused his assignments or lowered his grade because of lateness, Morales quickly adjusted his behavior.

“I learned the hard way that deadlines are deadlines,” he said.

The son of a Native American mother and Mexican father, Morales had been participating in the Salem-Keizer School District’s Indian Education program when he found out he could trade his senior year of high school for two years at Chemeketa and walk away with a transfer degree and high school diploma.

While some lessons, like deadlines, were tougher than others, Morales discovered an interactive element in Chemeketa classes that he hadn’t experienced elsewhere.

“In an addiction pharmacology class we had study groups where we helped each other with homework and prepared for tests. It’s not the same as in high school where you have to sort of stick with your own clique,” he said. “The students here are always willing to come together to do better in class and get a better grade.”

One of Morales’ many goals is to become an addiction counselor - and a Lakota language instructor - at his reservation in Rosebud, South Dakota.

“Even as a high school student, I had a lot of friends who used drugs, from alcohol and pot to cocaine and meth, and I just thought that was ridiculous. It’s such a hard thing to overcome,” said Morales.

Another aspect of the Early College High School program should also prove useful in his chosen profession. Each term Morales must participate in service projects as part of his curriculum. He’s discovered that the projects can benefit him as much as the people he’s helping.

“Last year, I was a Spanish tutor and having the opportunity to speak it with someone else helped me improve my skills,” Morales.

Now in his second year, Morales is helping students new to the program confront the same challenges he faced. This term he’s mentoring first-year students and helping them find their way at Chemeketa, imparting in his charges his educational values.

“Education is the most important thing in my life. I just want to keep it going,” Morales said.

By Eric A. Howald. Have a great Chemeketa story? Send us an e-mail.

Updated October 25, 2007 by Marketing and Student Recruitment.