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Alumni Spotlight
Tom Corcoran
Name: Tom Corcoran
Class: Heartland Class of 2005
Degree: Digital Media Certificate
Interviewer: Colleen Reynolds, Associate Director of Alumni Relations and Outreach
Download audio interview (MP3 format, 11.5MB)
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Colleen: Tom, tell us about your time at Heartland. When were you here and why did you come to Heartland in the first place?
Tom: I originally attended Heartland from the fall semester of 2002 through May of 2005. I decided to attend Heartland after I had gotten a bachelors degree in psychology from Illinois State University. I kind of looked around at the job market and wasn't really finding too much to do with that specific degree in this area. I knew that I really enjoyed using computers and all the graphic design and drawing. My entire life I had been using computers practically, so I decided to enroll here at Heartland in the digital media program.
Colleen: Tell us about your experience here and what you liked about Heartland educationally and just even socially.
Tom: Probably the small class size was the thing that I enjoyed the most. I got to know some of the other people in my digital media classes. We kind of took the classes together sort of as a unit, as a cohort and also getting to know the teachers as well. I got to interact with several of the digital media instructors and kind of got to know them on more of a personal level instead of just a professional teacher/student level. I really enjoyed that. So the class size I guess was probably the best thing for me.
Colleen: So what's happened to you since you left Heartland?
Tom: I actually got hired on here at Heartland part-time just shortly after I graduated in May of 2005. I started working here part-time in the Instructional Development Center assisting faculty with all kinds of digital media, multi-media needs. And so I worked here part-time for about two years and then I was eventually hired on full-time about a year ago. That was a good career move for me. I got to stay in the area locally and be able to contribute back to Heartland.
Colleen: What impact would you say Heartland had on you?
Tom: I guess I wouldn't really be doing what I do for a career without my education from Heartland. The enjoyment that I get out of the digital media degree that I have earned from Heartland and my life's pursuit at this point comes from my education at Heartland Community College.
Colleen: What kind of reaction do you get from people when you say “I graduated from Heartland Community College” and you explain to them that you had your four year degree but then went back to school?
Tom: Sometimes it's a confusing kind of reaction, but overall I think that it was probably the right choice for me to make. It has led to me discovering what I want to do as a career and be satisfied with my vocational life.
Colleen: It sounds like it helped you find your passion.
Tom: It gave me a real path to be able to follow and that I can continue to grow in into the future.
Colleen: What advice do you have for current or even future students attending Heartland?
Tom: I would say probably number one, take your time to learn what it is that you are really excited about in your life because you are going to eventually be committed to a type of a career and you want to get into something that you really enjoy and that you'll want to stick with for quite a long time. I would also secondly say just learn to enjoy learning. Learning for learning's sake because you won't always have an instructor standing up in front of the class telling you “There's going to be quiz next week so you have to learn this material.” The quicker or the easier that you can learn to enjoy learning, I say that's a lifelong pursuit and that it will make your life much better.
Colleen: What kind of changes have occurred on campus even since you left here and then came back?
Tom: There's been quite a bit of exciting growth here on campus. Most of my digital media classes were actually held in the Towanda Plaza campus. I did take a few classes here at the Raab Road campus. Since then, all of the digital media and technology division has moved over from the Towanda Plaza into the brand new Workforce Development Center building. Other than that, the campus keeps growing. New buildings are coming along here in the next few months and there's a lot of exciting growth.
Colleen: How do you feel about the prospects of an alumni association that could help connect you with some of the students that you spend a lot of time with?
Tom: I think that would be a great opportunity to reconnect with people that you went to school with. Just feel more connected to Heartland Community College in general. It's an exciting place to go to school and obviously with all of the growth at this point, I think an alumni association connection would be an excellent opportunity.
Colleen: Stay tuned Tom. It was great talking to you-thanks!
Tom: Thank you.
