Brenda Autry Journalism Blog

My heart sank as we reached the top of the path and gazed down into the valley at a pillowy white wall of clouds that threatened to ruin a moment I had awaited for years. I spent hours researching the perfect timing to avoid the calamity that lay before me. I sank to the ground among the llamas and other forlorn travelers to see if I could wait out my misfortune. As the sun began to peak over the mountains to the east, its rays cut small slits in the airy barricade allowing glimpses of deep green and earthy brown below. The crest of Huayna Picchu broke through and with each inch of dissipation my excitement rose to where it had been an hour earlier on the zig-zagging bus ride up the mountain. Suddenly, the sun broke free; flooding the valley with golden light and vanquishing the last remnants of cumulus shroud. I jumped to my feet, ran to the edge of the cliff, and finally drank in the sight I’d waited so long for -- Machu Picchu ! Machu Picchu The view was even more stunni...

Marc Rose is a full-time welding instructor and the department chair of the welding program at LBCC. Rose is an alumnus of the LB welding program. He lives in Lebanon with his wife, Kim, daughter Emma, 16, and son Luke, 14. This is his fifth year teaching full-time and he taught part-time for six years prior to that. The welding program has gone through a barrage of changes over the last few year. Just as things were beginning to settle down covid-19 hit and threw their program into disarray once again. Despite the challenges they've faced, the entire department has come together and found a way to teach hands-on skills online. Marc Rose How did you get started teaching? I wanted to teach right out of high school, but I wasn’t the most academic of students and I couldn’t see myself going to school for four more years. So, I kind of lost focus on that dream for a while. But about 11 or 12 years ago, Dean Dowless (a welding instructor at LB) contacted me about teachi...