Page 16 - Flathead Beacon // 5.20.2015

16 | MAY 20, 2015 NEWS FLATHEADBEACON.COM
Zoe Glasser Breeding hugs Flathead Valley Community College president Jane Karas after receiving her diploma. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
As Enrollment Stays Steady, FVCC Graduates the Class of 2015
FVCC president says college continues to meet the needs of community and students
BWy JUSTIN FRANZ of the Beacon
hen Buck Breckenridge completed high school a de-
cade ago, he was not swamped with filling out college
applications or writing dozens of essays about why he was the perfect candidate for a certain university.
At the time, Breckenridge, now 29, of Kalispell, did not think that college was the right choice for him. When his schooling was over he went to work for his dad’s surveying company.
“I never really thought that college was an option for me,” he said. “I didn’t think it was necessary for me because I really did not know what I wanted to do.”
But on May 15, Breckenridge and more than 400 other Flat- head Valley Community College students donned sharp caps and pressed gowns as part of the school’s 2015 graduating class.
This spring, 2,390 students were enrolled at FVCC, a slight increase over last year, although considerably lower than the number of students who enrolled at the peak of the recession.
Like so many others, Breckenridge went back to school when the economy bottomed out.
“It was something I needed to do so I could stop spinning my wheels and get ahead,” he said.
In the spring of 2013, Breckenridge went back to school for an associates of applied science degree so that he could become a licensed surveyor. He said tuition costs scared him at first but he was able to cover those expenses with scholarships from the school.
Two years later, before Breckenridge had even graduated, he already had a job offer in California.
Another FVCC graduate, Zoe Glasser Breeding, 20, was in