Meet Your Admisssions Department

Each day you see new people in the halls of your school, checking out the campus and learning about our programs. Each of these individuals is starting a new journey just as you did when you first walked in the door of the Southwestern College Toledo Campus. these people are taking the first step towards their dream and making a change in their life.

In the admissions department, we work with people to do just that. So ask yourself, do you have a friend, significant other, parent, neighbor, or sibling that could benefit from training for a career in the medical, business, or computer fields? Please contact an admissions representative today and help them make a change in their life!

Southwestern College admissions team:

Jessica Reed-Director of Admissions
Jamal Jones-Assistant Director of Admissions
Jennifer Fedototszkin-Adminissions Representative
Marriah Kornowa-Admissions Representative
Josh Hotaling-Admissions Representative
Dawn Belzung-Admissions Representative

Don't forget our wonderful support staff!

Dawn Cook-Admissions Coordinator
Tamithat Todd-Receptionist
Kharisma Ewing-Evening Receptionist

‘The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ’ by Phillip Pullman

This book is Pullman’s re-imagination of the story of Jesus’ birth. Rather than a single child, Mary gave birth to twins. There are still mysterious events that take place in this retelling, but not events that are as miraculous as those from the bible. And the reader is certainly not given any reason to believe that either brother is of divine parentage. Jesus seems to do unpredictable things, but has consistently good intentions; he attracts followers and inspires people with his faith. Christ tracks his brother and records his movements and actions for a mysterious third party. He frequently bends the truth in his records to make things seem more miraculous than they actually were.

I’m especially inclined to like anything written by Phillip Pullman, as I enjoyed the His Dark Materials trilogy so much. This was another interesting book, but it represents a departure from the material that Pullman’s readers are familiar with. It is written in shorter bible-like chapters. There are short stories/episodes that represent events of importance. I suspect that this book would be more fun for a person who is more familiar with the bible than I am. I recognize many bible stories that have been altered to fit Pullman’s version of the story, but I’m certainly no expert.

In defense of the brother Christ, he makes some bad decisions, but isn’t the scoundrel that the title lead me to expect. Really, he just seemed like a sad man.

'Don't Sleep There are Snakes' by Daniel Everett

Lately, I’ve been becoming increasingly interested in off-grid living; relying as little as possible on public and government programs and funds to support oneself. With this in mind, reading Don’t Sleep There are Snakes has been enjoyable and thought provoking. Author and linguist Daniel Everett has been regularly spending time with the Pirahã population of the Amazon since the 1970’s. This book, discusses not only the linguistic implications of what has been learned from Everett’s work, but also the lifestyle and values of the people being studied. Of course, the reader will see that the culture of the Pirahã is crucial to the linguistic conclusions that Everett has drawn, but even if it weren’t, it’s just so darn interesting.

Since I’m not an expert in linguistics (and one doesn’t have to be to enjoy this book), I’ll have to take Everett’s word for it when he writes that his conclusions are controversial and unusual. Instead I’m inclined to focus on the lifestyle and the anecdotes that illustrate their personalities. After reading this book, I’m impressed with the comfort and contentedness that the Amazonian people have in their lives. They have certainly achieved something that I can only hope to attain.

A favorite passage from the book:
They [the Pirahãs] have no craving for truth as a transcendental reality. Indeed, the concept has no place in their values. Truth to the Pirahãs is catching a fish, rowing a canoe, laughing with your children, loving your brother, dying of malaria. Does this make them more primitive? Many anthropologists have suggested so, which is why they are so concerned about finding out the Pirahãs’ notions about God, the world, and creation.

But there is an interesting alternative way to think about things. Perhaps it is the presence of these concerns that makes a culture more primitive, and their absence that renders a culture more sophisticated. If that is true, the Pirahãs are a very sophisticated people. Does this sound far-fetched? Let’s ask ourselves if it is more sophisticated to look at the universe with worry, concern, and a belief that we can understand it all, or to enjoy life as it comes, recognizing the likely futility of looking for truth or God?

In Conclusion, it is a wonderful book, one that I certainly recommend.

‘Moby Dick’ by Herman Melville

Obviously, Moby Dick is a great American novel. The obsessed captain Ahab has sworn vengeance on the infamous whale Moby Dick. As many already known from the first line of the book, Ishmael tells the story of the best known whaling voyage of all time (albeit a fictional voyage) from the viewpoint of a member of the ship’s crew.

So many people, including many English majors that I have known, haven’t been able to push themselves through Moby Dick, and understandably so. It is a dense and complex book that few feel compelled to read if they aren’t assigned to do so by a professor. I won’t deny that the book is difficult, or imply that I fully comprehend every obscure reference that Melville has made, but on the whole, I’m glad to be familiar with the book. In truth, I may have benefitted from the graphic descriptions of the processes of whaling more than the narrative, and my final opinion of the novel may be that the work is of greater importance as a historical reference than entertainment fiction. Of course, I grew up playing the ‘Save the Whales’ board game, so it’s hard to imagine how Melville would feel about my perspective.

Even though the reader grows attached to some of the characters on the ship, I think my final sympathy lies with Moby Dick. The sailors think of him as a ruthless beast, but he is really just famous for preventing people from murdering him. I don’t think I’d mind having a reputation for not letting people kill me either.

Wolf to the Slaughter by Ruth Rendell

Recently I heard someone complaining about a book, saying after reading and enjoying it they still weren’t really sure about the title. That is kind of the way I feel about this story. Usually, titles have some sort of tie-in with the actual story, at least in a vague way. This is a murder mystery, and the concept of a wolf being slaughtered sort of ties in with that, but it is otherwise a pretty obscure connection.

Ruth Rendell has written several Wexford mysteries; stories that focus around the investigations of the police station that is overseen by Detective Wexford. A young woman has disappeared and the team of detectives attempt to discover what has happened with only a missing person report and an anonymous note to go on. I have read Ruth Rendell stories before and I consistently enjoy them very much; well written and oh so British.

Middlesex By Jeffrey Eugenides

This book was surprising to me; I didn’t know what to expect and had heard very little about it. Apparently, I am in the minority, as it has been a selection for Oprah’s Book Club in the past and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Middlesex is the story of three generations of a Greek-American family living in Detroit as told by Calliope or Cal. Calliope, later Cal is of the youngest generation in the story, raised as a girl, but becoming masculine as an adolescent. Cal is the product of frequent genetic mutations of a close-knit Greek community that hails from a very small town. In 2010, it is no surprise to us that inbred communities tend to have abnormal genetic traits, but of course, Cal’s ancestors had no way of knowing that this would be the case.

As I read this story, I’m tormented not by how unusual and painful Calliope’s puberty is, but how normal and painful it is. How different am I really from Cal? The feeling of alienness in one’s own body, the shame of being imperfect and different from other girls- I don’t think any of this is so unique. Perhaps that is the point; interesex individuals and hermaphrodites aren’t really so different from those of us who only exhibit characteristics of one sex.

The book feels like a cross between Forrest Gump and Lolita, the single male narrator that covers several decades in history while trying to explain a sexual situation that is foreign to most. The book is a startling contrast of the tragic and the comic, and Eugenides himself points out, but that seems to be the case with most things.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

This is a difficult book to review, because aspects of the plot are quite mysterious for long periods of time, and I would be doing the reader a great disservice by revealing many details. The protagonist of the novel is Kathy who is now 31 years old. Never Let Me Go is written as a memoir might be; the bulk of the novel tells of her childhood and her friendships at Hailsham. Though the children’s lives could be described as sheltered and idyllic, the reader is aware that this is simply a façade.

In many ways, this is a science fiction novel; the students of Hailsham exist in a world that differs from our own, even though the similarities are abundant. I might refer to this as “light science-fiction” – more than anything it is a relationship/friendship drama. I think that this is all for the better; there are many, many, many books that talk about the conflicts of relationships and friendships (almost every book). Ishiguro’s book introduces another element to this fiction equation, but without making the story unrelatable.

Though this is a side note, I am always impressed with authors who choose to write novels with protagonists of the opposite sex. In this case, Ishiguro is a male with a female narrator. (The Harry Potter series is another excellent example of this phenomenon) My point in mentioning this is that I think Ishiguro does an excellent job. The attitude of the narrator seemed plausible and natural.

I based my selection of this book on the fact that I really enjoyed Ishiguro’s Remains of the Day, and I didn’t really know what to expect. In many ways, the books are similar, personal dramas with disturbing back stories (Remains of the Day’s protagonist was employed by a Nazi/Nazi sympathizer). And more importantly, both books are touching, well written novels that readers will enjoy.

(Also, I didn't realize until I finished this book, but it is being made into a movie. I want to see it, but knowing me, I'll wait until it comes out on DVD)