Paula (Eisenman) Pascoe
Favorite Quotes
Life is what we make it,
Always has been.
Always will be.
~Grandma Moses
Family and friends are hidden treasures.
Seek them and enjoy the riches.
~Anonymous
Happiness is not at the end of the road;
It is all along the way. ~Naomi Judd
Many people search blindly for the "meaning of life."
What they don’t understand is that life does not have
Meaning through mere existence or acquisition or fun.
The meaning of life is inherent in the connections we make
To others.
~Dr. Laura
I can still vividly remember my excitement! After interviews, two
separate community colleges offered me contracts in Washington, my home
state. Upon graduation with a Masters degree in Guidance and Counseling
from Arizona State University (ASU) in June 1967, I was ready to launch
my professional career.
I grew up on a farm and came from a family that had very little. Neither
of my parents completed high school because they were obligated to get
jobs and help support their families. I was determined to have a life
not burdened with financial struggles. During high school, I had been a
proud member of the Future Teachers of America. I was one of a few
members selected by our advisor for substitute teaching in the local
elementary schools. This "taste" of a career was very rewarding, and I
found myself wishing that I could go to college and become a teacher. I
knew that more education could earn me a better life and a meaningful
career. However, without funds for four years of college, the first step
of my journey was to decide that the best option for me was to attend a
local business college for two years.
Fortunately, an unexpected letter provided a second step that
dramatically changed my future career. Our local community college, then
Everett Junior College (EJC), advised me that I was one of two seniors
in my high school offered a full-tuition scholarship. I gratefully
accepted the financial help that opened the door for me to begin my
college education. I was able to complete two years of college and
transfer coursework at a great savings by living at home and
commuting—the very foundation of the community college.
My family moved to Arizona for health reasons at the end of my sophomore
year, and I enrolled in summer session 1962 at ASU. I financed the last
two years of my baccalaureate degree in education by working at three
on-campus jobs, by receiving additional scholarships, and qualifying for
a PELL grant.
That hard-earned diploma was the third step to my teaching career goal,
and I was thrilled when I received two contract offers. However, shortly
after that, the Arizona Legislature imposed a new requirement for all
teachers in the state. We would have to obtain a Masters in our degree
field or complete an additional thirty graduate credits in education
within five years to remain certified. I decided to decline both
teaching offers, and continued studying for the needed graduate degree.
Had the new legislative requirement not passed, I am sure that I would
have had a professional career as a teacher.
However, courses in my Guidance and Counseling degree program introduced
me to the fourth step of my journey—a career in higher education. I felt
fortunate to have Dr. Gilbert Wrenn as one of my graduate professors at
ASU. He authored our textbook, The Counselor in a Changing World, and
his peers elected him President of the American Personnel and Guidance
Association. He was also founder and first editor of the Journal of
Counseling and Psychology. My classmates and I were impressed with his
professional stature and accomplishments. I was truly a new ASU graduate
student inspired by a mentor who was one of the most nationally
respected professional counselors in the counseling career field.
Besides seeing clients as a requirement of my counseling degree, I was a
residence hall director for three years at ASU, a full-time position. As
a part-time graduate student, I had many opportunities to provide both
personal and career counseling for the undergraduate women in my
assigned halls. I also soon realized that it was more rewarding for me
to work with college level students instead of elementary level
children. Furthermore, as advisor to the hall council members, I enjoyed
seeing the personal growth of the college students as they planned and
conducted social activities for fellow residents. My supervisor,
Associate Dean of Students Dean Jo Dorris, had chosen to hire graduate
students for half of her residence hall staff. I was honored when she
selected me as one of two graduate staff assigned as a director. I felt
grateful for her support and belief in my ability to accept
responsibility. Additionally, I gained much as I observed the effective
leadership style of this mentor in her interactions with students,
staff, and other professionals on campus. I owe a debt of gratitude to
Dean Dorris, who served as my most significant female professional role
model.
For my graduate degree internship requirement, I worked for Dean Jinette
Kirk, the first female Dean of Students in Arizona and at a brand new
community college in Mesa. She gave me total responsibility as Advisor
to the Associated Student Body Council and the Student Activities
Planning Board. I also worked closely with the student leaders as they
organized and hosted a statewide leadership conference. Dean Kirk
provided a very valuable internship and served as another important role
model for me.
Upon graduating in 1967, I accepted the position as the first fulltime
Coordinator of Student Programs at a two-year old campus, Tacoma
Community College (TCC) in Tacoma, Washington. It was the perfect
opportunity for me. During my interview with the Dean of Students, I
learned that the campus administrators supported my belief that students
should participate in making decisions for campus issues. The college’s
model was already established; the design called for student voting
representatives on all campus decision-making bodies. With both the
Student Senate and Student Activities Council, I had "leadership
training labs" for students to grow personally and gain valuable life
skills. I developed major goals for student leaders to achieve:
1.
Discover their
potential
2.
Learn to
accomplish expected responsibilities
3.
Listen to all
sides before determining the best decision
4.
Learn when to
compromise
5.
Learn
parliamentary procedure and how to use it effectively
6.
Believe that
even one person can effect a needed change.
I also knew that I would have many opportunities to provide students
with both personal and career counseling. I did inherit a program that
reflected a more traditional student body. As I had been, most were
graduates of local area high schools who enrolled in college transfer
courses. Further, our students were also mostly Caucasians from blue
collar working families.
I continued to witness the changing college student diversity that Dr.
Wrenn had forecast. When their children started school, mothers enrolled
in classes and also got involved as student leaders. At the end of the
Vietnam War came veterans who were seeking more meaning in their lives.
Elected student senators funded a childcare center as one example of
responding to the needs of a changing student body.
Simultaneously, the campus saw an increase in the number of both Black
and Hispanic students. The large increase of both of these groups
brought the greatest changes. Sponsored forums open to all members of
the campus provided valuable understanding and respect for these student
populations. Faculty, staff, administrators, as well as students
gathered often in our largest student lounge or outside on the lawn to
hear speakers on current topics that were thought provoking—and often
controversial. Repeatedly, students reaffirmed one of my core beliefs:
When we are active participants in our learning, we take what we learn
with us throughout life. The sponsored out-of-the formal classroom
student programs and activities provided many rich learning experiences
for the entire campus community. The most important lesson I felt each
involved student needed to grasp was that every individual could make a
difference. Our "leadership lab" provided a great training ground for
students to do just that. As a supporter, an encourager, and an advisor,
I felt the same pride that our students did when they succeeded in their
many leadership accomplishments.
Despite many long hours at work, evening events, weekend leadership
retreats, and conferences that I attended during my tenure as
Coordinator of Student Programs at TCC, this position provided my Peak
Professional Experience. I related to the many students who also could
not afford the expense of four years at a residence campus. Our
community college opened doors to the future for many, just as
EJC had for me. No two days were ever the same, and I truly loved my
position of working closely with the college students. I thrived on
seeing so many individuals succeed and grow in confidence that would be
of value in their future.
In the 1974-75 campus year, the Student Senate funded four
paraprofessional program advisors to assist with the ever-growing number
of available programs and activities. The following year the college
administration funded a full-time Program Advisor, and promoted me to
the new Associate Dean of Students position.
Shortly after our new president arrived, I believed I could make more of
a difference as an advocate for the students at a higher decision-making
level and applied for the Dean of Students position. I was one of five
candidates considered and was advised that the three finalists all had
their doctorates. I knew what I had to do. With ten years tenure and
eligibility for a sabbatical, I put in my request and took the granted
leave in June of 1977. I completed my doctorate of philosophy and
returned to Tacoma Community College in 1980 to serve as Assistant to
the College President. The position provided me with a fifth journey
step, an invaluable introduction to another management experience in
higher education.
Obvious was the great sense of pride prominent among TCC faculty, staff,
and administrators. We were a dedicated collegiate family who worked
together at a new campus. We shared a great deal of satisfaction knowing
that we were successful in providing a valued college experience for the
students we served. Nearly fifty years later, TCC retirees still attend
monthly scheduled lunch gatherings. I am grateful when I am in town and
can attend, and I view this as testimony to the feeling of family that
existed and continues today.
When I married my husband, Roy, a pilot in the U.S. Air Force, my world
expanded as I began the sixth and last step of my professional journey—a
second fifteen-year career in Civil Service Higher Education. We had
tours in Germany, Hawaii, Montana, Alabama, and Colorado. My
responsibilities at ASU and TCC and the completion of my doctorate
equipped me for management positions in Civil Service. I served with the
Air Force’s Education Services Division. We selected and contracted the
colleges and universities to provide on base courses on the mainland and
overseas for two-year, four-year, and graduate degree programs for
military personnel. At the Air Force’s Air University setting in
Montgomery, I was proud to be the first woman hired as the Command’s
Education Director. My chain of command was to the Four-Star General.
The position was the highest one achieved in my career in Higher
Education. The City of Montgomery recognized me as their Federal Manager
of the Year in 1990. I felt honored by nominating endorsements from my
supervisor, an Air Force Colonel:
Dr. Pascoe manages the best education services program I have seen in my
22 years of active duty. This professional has led her education team to
Excellence. If producing results counts, this
professional deserves the highest evaluation for successes.
I was a driven farm girl who pursued education as an avenue for a better
tomorrow and completed a rewarding journey throughout my twenty-five
year professional career in Higher Education.
My Peak Personal Experience
Roy and I stood under the palm trees in Honolulu’s Kapiolani Park as the
sun slipped toward the horizon and delivered a backdrop of magnificent
reddish orange. Then, silhouetted against the colorful sky, the chair
athletes strained with gloved hands as they brought their chairs across
the finish line. While seeing the effort etched on the faces of the
physically impaired participants, I also noted how quickly, joyful
smiles spread across their faces. I stood in absolute awe as one after
another wheelchair athlete finished the twenty-six mile course. I had
tears in my eyes and just kept repeating, "Wow, how incredible." And
then it was instantaneous: I felt so inspired by what I was witnessing
that I turned to Roy and boldly declared," I have to do a marathon. If
all of these finishers can make it, I can make it." We left the event
knowing we would both participate in the following year’s 1981 Honolulu
Marathon.
As an outdoor enthusiast, I had previously enjoyed water, downhill and
cross-country skiing. With Roy’s great support and continued
encouragement, I discovered that I, too, found pleasure in jogging,
bicycling, catamaran sailing, canoeing, and even glacier skiing.
Together we entered and placed in events that sometimes included two,
three, and even four sport activities. However, it was the completion of
the 26-mile Honolulu Marathon that was a Peak Personal Experience for
me.
Fortunately for us, two Honolulu physicians held an established jogging
clinic at Waikiki’s Kapiolani Park on Saturday mornings. The agenda was
to prepare runners for the city’s marathon event, and we became regular
attendees. Good information on stretching, pacing, and hydrating were
just some of the topics covered before we jogged each week. The
physicians scheduled a bus that took us out on the Marathon course and
then dropped us off to jog over Diamond Head and back to the park. Of
course, the bus went out a little farther each week. That technique was
successful in getting clinic participants used to climbing the toughest
section of the run—the dreaded Diamond Head Hill.
With mostly sunny days and often light trade winds blowing, Hawaii was
definitely a place to enjoy jogging. Staff from both Roy’s and my work
settings got involved in jogging as a social exercise during lunch hours
and after work. As in most of my education civil service positions, I
was surrounded by male counterparts at Education Services for the
Pacific. My job responsibilities included travel to conduct staff
assistance visits at military base education centers in Japan, Korea,
and the Philippines. Although golf tended to be the sport activity for
"the guys" for "shop talk," I found jogging to be an acceptable sport
activity to discuss office issues "out of shop" with the males in my
work settings.
Because jogging was so popular in Hawaii, there were 5Ks (3.1 miles) or
10Ks (6.2 miles) almost every weekend, and as the December Marathon drew
closer, half marathon (13.1 miles) running events were held.
Participating in weekend running events was part of planned training for
us. We combined sightseeing with training when we flew to the Big Island
of Hawaii to participate in a 5K run. The event took runners down into
the then non-active Mauna Loa Volcano National Park. I was startled when
scientists brushed off the bottom of our tennis shoes to be sure seeds
foreign to the area would not be brought in! Runners who entered the
half marathon donned heavy-duty rubber elbow and knee pads to reduce
wounds if they were to take a fall on the rough volcano lava rock bed of
their course. For our 5K, we wound our way down a trail and then crossed
the floor of Mauna Loa before returning on another trail to climb out of
the volcano. I recall my eerie feeling when I came upon the first
openings on the volcano floor that released billowing steam as we jogged
past. But the good news was the spewing steam helped me to maintain my
pace. I was eager to get off the volcano’s floor and really pushed
myself to complete the final uphill trail to the finish!
We also flew over to beautiful Kauai, the Garden Island, to run one of
the scheduled half marathons. Then, just two weeks before the 1981
Marathon, I broke the little toe on my right foot. I went to the weekend
clinic and asked the physicians, "Can I run it?" The answer was a firm,
"Go home, cut a hole in your tennis shoe, tape that toe to the one next
to it, and run the race." I did and completed my first ever Marathon in
just under five hours! Afterwards, I wished that I had carried a sign
saying, "I’m running with a broken toe!"
Knowing I could complete the event under adverse conditions gave me
confidence to commit for a second year. I soon learned that Johnny
Farber was coach for the women’s track team at the University of Hawaii
in the early 80s. He had generously offered a clinic to women in the
community who wanted to improve their running pace for the Marathon.
Coach Farber and several assistants put some 100 plus women through pace
workouts weekly at the University of Hawaii’s track. Our green shorts
and the words on our green tank tops, "FARBER’S FLYERS," appropriately
credited the University of Hawaii coach. We were split into separate
groups or packs with other females who ran close to the same pace. The
hard workouts created great camaraderie among us. On weekends I would
seek out the other 8-minute runners so we could jog together and
practice keeping our hopeful pace for the 1982 Marathon.
That year the marathon had over 10,000 finishers, although today over
25,000 complete the course. It is among the world’s top ten marathon
runs for finishers. The festivities throughout the week of the event
also contributed to an overall fun experience. There was a required
pick-up day to get running numbers and packets prior to the race.
Excitement was in the air as everyone checked out the newest designed
shirt: "I completed the 1982 Marathon." The Spaghetti Feed or "Carbo
Loading" night was another fun-filled event. At the end of the evening,
runners who had brought their hometown t-shirts happily did a t-shirt
exchange.
Honolulu advertised the marathon as one of the most beautiful because of
the spectacular ocean views, and that certainly rang true. The big event
began in the early morning with a great fireworks display. The course
route started near the swimming and surfing beaches of Ala Moana Park,
on to downtown Honolulu, and then past Waikiki Beach.
Next runners got to enjoy ocean views by Diamond Head. At Hawaii Kai,
the course turned around, and participants could see the lead runners.
It was also fun to see and cheer friends who were running a faster pace.
Never had I participated in an event that had such community support.
People literally lined the course, cheering for runners, and some even
offered welcomed water sprays from garden hoses. What a pleasant
surprise it was to see and enjoy hearing a tuxedo-clad four-piece
ensemble sitting atop the roof of a home on the route as we jogged past.
And we even slowed our jog—just a bit—to watch some traditional hula
dancers perform. Because the Honolulu Marathon is held annually in
December, some runners chose to come in costume; there were elves,
reindeer, and yes, even a Santa.
The peak of the peak experience was being just under my goal with a
finish time of 3 hours and 58 minutes! All I could do was thank Coach
Farber and his training clinic. A mainland friend called to ask if I had
just run the 1982 Marathon, because she had seen the event video
featured on a newscast and thought she had recognized me. She was
right—the video of the 1982 Marathon ended in slow motion, and I was
coming across the finish line, looking up, seeing my time on the finish
line clock, and then raising my arm and letting out a victory cheer:
"Yes, I did it!" Having completed Honolulu’s 26-mile marathon course in
just less than four hours was definitely a great feeling of personal
accomplishment and a Peak Personal Experience for me.
A Conversation with Paula:
What are you passionate about?
·
Spending time
with our families
·
Staying in
touch with Japanese exchange students Roy and I have hosted
·
Keeping in
contact with friends
·
Listening to
music of the 1960s
·
Nurturing
beautiful flower gardens
·
Inhaling views
of Arizona’s magnificent sunsets
·
Preparing photo
albums and scrapbooks for family
·
Traveling the
U.S. and Canada in our motor home
·
Traveling
abroad to new places
·
Helping the
orphaned children of Africa
What accomplishments are you most proud of?
·
Western
Regional Coordinator, Intercollegiate Associated Women Students,
1964-1966
·
Chair,
Washington Association of Community College Student Activities
Personnel, 1969
·
President,
Washington State Women Deans and Counselors Assoc., 1973; Secretary,
1970- 1971; Community
College Section Chair, 1968-1969
·
Western Region
Panel for President’s Commission To Select White House Fellows, 1973
·
Outstanding
Young Woman of America, 1973
·
Assistant to
the College President, Tacoma Community College, 1981
·
Headquarters
Staff, Pacific Air Force Education Services with travel assistance
Japan, Korea and the Philippines education centers, 1979-1983
·
President,
Hawaii Personnel and Guidance Association, 1982; Chair for annual
conferences, 1980 and 1981
·
Education
Consultant to research needs of returning adult students and conducted
faculty workshops for Montana State University, 1983
·
Vice-President,
American Assocociation of University Women, Bozeman, Montana Chapter,
1983
·
American
Association of University Women grant recipient to conduct statewide
workshops for women in Montana on "Take Charge of Your Career,"1984-1986
·
First female
Major Command Director of Education at U.S. Air Force’s Air University
in Montgomery, 1988-1991
·
One of three
civil service managers worldwide selected to
attend Harvard University’s Summer Management Institute, 1989
·
City of
Montgomery’s Federal Manager of the Year, 1990
·
Business
Professional of the Year Nominee, Gig Harbor, Washington, 1998
·
Owner of the
Island Escape B&B, which was recognized by Washington State Governor for
most votes of B&B guests national contest, 2002
What are your favorite places in the U.S.?
·
Olympic
National Park, Washington State
·
Moab, Utah
·
Yellowstone
Park, Wyoming
·
Medora, North
Dakota’s outdoor musical production
·
Stewart, Alaska
How would you describe yourself?
·
Have
sincere concern for others
·
Am enthusiastic
·
Have determined
nature
·
Am
adventuresome
·
Have love of
the outdoors
·
Have a
committed work ethic
·
Have a positive
"can do" attitude
·
Have need to
provide help for others
·
Am grateful for
my farm girl roots |