Christine Hale

Student

“I really appreciate all the support I’ve had here. Teachers, friends, even people I haven’t met.”

Christine Hale thinks the world could use some improvement. So she’s doing something about it. “I worked for Greenpeace for two years in personnel management,” she says. “They work on 52 of the most threatening environmental issues on the planet. They work internationally so they connect all the problems on all the continents,” she continues. “It was a great experience which launched me into the environment. And it’s the biggest reason why I’ve gone back to school after 20 years: I’d like to be a spokesperson and a leader in making the world a better place.”

Christine is involved in the Certificate Program at SMC. “I’m pursuing, first, my Certificate in Personnel Supervision,” she says. “You just need to take 20 units in the major courses required and you’re entitled to a certificate. For an AA, you’d need an additional 20 units. So this is a very economical use of time.”

Christine plans to move on to San Luis Obispo “and possibly study urban planning and design. I may end up having to get a master’s degree,” she says. “And that would be six years, which feels like a lot of time.”

At SMC Christine found that “the teachers I studied with were really excellent. Where they found their sources of information, I don’t know,” she continues. “But they were so very informed and aware. They seemed to know much more than just what’s in the newspapers. They were very perceptive about things we don’t necessarily get in the newspapers.”

“My daughter is just about to graduate from UC Davis in environmental design,” says Christine proudly. “She’s been very supportive of me going back to school and—who knows?—maybe some day we’ll end up working in the same office together.” Doubtlessly, they’d both be making the world a little better.

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