Call Me Retired

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Terry Johnston

Photo of Terry Johnston. Terry Johnston graduated from Oregon State University in 1968 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Animal Science. He returned to Roseburg to start a feed manufacturing business in Dixonville and later took over the operation of the family farm. “It was a great way to raise a family, but a tough way to make a living,” he reminisced.

In 1986 UCC offered the first microcomputer specialist program and he enrolled while continuing to run the ranch. As he already had a BS degree, he only had to take the computer related classes.

At the completion of the program he went to work for a hotel company part time. “I could not turn down the money, so I leased the ranch and went to work full time.” Terry was responsible for the computer and telecommunication systems for seven hotels in three states. The work required him to be ready to jump aboard a company jet and be on location in a matter of hours. “It was exciting and I was well paid.” articulated Johnston. Eventually the company purchased a new office in Scottsdale, Arizona, and all of the support people in Oregon were asked to move to Arizona. He chose not to go.

It was about this time that a position opened at UCC in computer support. He jumped at the chance to work for the school that had allowed him to leave the farm and go to work in the corporate world. While at UCC he has “seen many people come back to school and have similar experiences. I believe that there are hundreds of stories just like mine, where persons have changed their lives by attending Umpqua Community College.”