Adam Amundson nominated for award
WVC at Omak alumnus Adam Amundson nominated for award
Media Contacts: Libby Siebens, community relations executive director, 509.682.6436 (Mon. 鈥 Thurs.)
January 27, 2015
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| Adam Amundson at the Transforming Lives Award ceremony with his friend, Wanda Jameson, and his daughter, Shandara. |
天美传媒 at Omak alumnus Adam Amundson was nominated for the Washington State Association of College Trustees (ACT) Transforming Lives Award. Nominees attended a dinner and awards ceremony in Olympia on Jan. 24.
The ACT award recognizes current or former students whose lives have been transformed by attending a Washington state community or technical college.
Amundson, who is a member of the Colville Confederated Tribes, is studying at Eastern Washington University and pursuing a bachelor鈥檚 degree in urban/regional planning. He received an Eisenhower Fellowship Award in 2015 for his research on traffic safety issues on a highway in the Colville Indian Reservation.
Amundson encountered several barriers during his educational journey, including the deaths of two children, drug and alcohol addiction, and a car accident that left him in a coma for two weeks. He found support among fellow students, staff and tutors at WVC at Omak, where he received his associate of arts and science transfer degree.
鈥淚t was tough when I lost my two oldest children,鈥 Amundson said. 鈥淥ther students have asked me why I am still in school. They say they couldn鈥檛 do it if it happened to them. I ask myself at times why I never gave up on my schooling, but there is a greater purpose I serve by continuing my education.鈥
鈥淚t is my dream to hopefully come back to my home reservation and apply my knowledge
to help fix the issues and work on making our roads safer,鈥 he said.