Questions

 Travis Overvig is the newly appointed president of the Student Leadership Council, was former Vice President, which made him a perfect candidate for the job. He is a person that grew up in a military family, and with a thick-skinned attitude and the ability to give advice and be a leader, I thought I would ask him a few questions and get to know him better and see how he operates. 

1.  What have been some of the challenges you've faced since becoming Student Leadership president at LBCC?

Some of the biggest challenges we're facing is just how we can best serve the needs of the students. And that's our purpose on the student council. So here at the SLC we try to do our best to make sure that Linn-Benton Community College is as affordable and accessible to all students as best as we can. So, often, we engage with the student body, we'll do that with our events. We try to make them fun. So when students are out of class, they have places they can go to kind of unwind with their friends, and meet new friends. While there, we try to serve them on what are the biggest needs. 

We often see some of the biggest needs are with housing, and lack of affordability of it with transportation. Again, like affordability, you know, food insecurity, that's a huge issue on our campus. So in regards to food insecurity, almost every single event of ours will have free food. So students will come in, grab a sucker or a slice of pizza, grab a sandwich, grab whatever we have available to them. So not only are they able to have fun at the event, and maybe do some new networking or whatnot, and have a bite to eat.

2.  Are you all volunteers?

No, we are all paid with tuition grants. So for our positions, we get paid, depending on whatever we're doing, and it helps to pay for our school.

3.  When there is a project or something that you need done, do you prefer enlisting other people, or do you like taking care of it yourself?

I have a really strong work ethic. So I often just kind of jump in on things myself, but you know, you don't want to burn yourself out. So you try to delegate where you can, everyone has their different position on the team. So everyone kind of has a role and responsibility, what they're required to do, and what's expected of them. So that goes a long way for planning events, or for doing what, you know, this or that he was expected to kind of do. My role is to lead the team, kind of have a strategic plan and what we want to accomplish, and that's kind of what I facilitate.

4.  How do you handle adversity and what keeps you going when adversity happens?

When you're in a group of 20-30 people, like the SLC is, you have a lot of different people who have different opinions, different backgrounds, and you can imagine communication styles. So you just gotta come in with a clean slate as best as possible. Understand that, for most part, everyone is here for the same goals, we're here to help the students.

5.  I would think you and your team develop some sort of bond, or closeness.

We have a lot of different bonding opportunities and ways we try to hang out and grow together as a team. But yeah, you know, when you're dealing with a tough situation, just try to face it with the understanding of usually most everyone's on the same page, we're all trying to do the same thing. And if you need to, you know, find ways to manage it. We have a lot of resources for that. We have myself and our VP who handle a lot of conflicts on the team. We have our advisor, Rob Camp, who does a phenomenal job of always stepping in if need be. But you know, it's a skill. like any other group, any other business or team, it's all about managing.

6.  Where and how do you see yourself in five years?

I'd have to be done with schooling. . I'm working towards a business administration degree here at LB. And I plan to take it off to OSU to get into finance. My goal is to get into wealth management. So hopefully, within five years, I will have some position with a wealth management company, or preferably, I would love to start my own.

7.  What are a couple words you could use to describe yourself?

I'm really resilient. I feet like I'm really thick-skinned, ,just my upbringing, I grew up in a military family with a lot of moving around and learning different things. I am confident and can get things done. 

8.  What are you hoping to learn from this experience that will helpou when you leave LBCC?

Oh, that's a great question. I just hope I can learn to develop my leadership skills, you know, beyond where I came into the team at. That's the hope is to grow, you know, with anything, the hope is to grow. So develop my leadership skills, develop my communication skills, my teamwork skills. That's all going to take me a long way with whatever the business I get involved with, or if I start my own business, that goes a long way, especially communication. Communication is key. And that's no lie. You know, it really goes a long way when you're able to communicate effectively.

9.  Has being SLC president been what you expected so far? And has it been difficult adjusting to anything so far?

Great question. So I had the benefit of serving as vice president on last year's team. So I backed up the president role already and often stepped in when the president was unavailable. So when needed I would step in for our Board of Education meetings, for leading our team and our weekly team meeting. But when she was out I stepped into kind of like that presidential role..

10.  What kind of work have you done and what would be your goal in the future?

So most of my life, I've been working like blue-collar jobs. I've worked as a truck driver, actually owned my own trucking business with my brother. I worked as a paper mill machinist out on the coast, Georgia Pacific. And you know, they're all good-paying jobs, but they really were your boss. So I decided I want to get into something a little more white collar, you know, so I wanted to get into being my own. ….

11.  Is there anything you'd like to add or advice to students or an attitude that works? Well, a state of mind, I might say.

That's a good question. Right now, I’d just like for students to know that there's a lot of resources here on campus. You know, I came in at 32. I've been here for about a year. I came in, I didn't know what to expect. I graduated from high school years before that. So you know, coming in, I didn't know what to expect. But this campus really does take you in, especially if you're willing to get a job on campus, if you want to join student leadership, if you want to, you know, kind of network a little bit, there's a lot out there for you. There's a lot of scholarships, a lot of ways to make money, and how to pay for your schooling

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At a Glance

Student Leadership Council (SLC) represents the students of Linn-Benton Community College, ensuring student participation in governance, policy development, managing student fees, organizing events, and providing an official voice for students.

Contact: Student Life and Leadership at 541-917-4457 or getinvolved@linnbenton.edu

SLC Mission: To advocate on behalf of the student body in order to enhance the educational experience at Linn-Benton Community College. The SLC is dedicated to bringing awareness and action in community service, access to resources, cultural awareness, environmental sustainability, and supporting all students.

Getting Involved: Students can get involved with the SLC by applying for council positions, volunteering, joining clubs, applying for work-study positions, or becoming a Student Engagement Leader.

Freedom of Expression: Linn-Benton Community College values and upholds the freedom, dignity, and human rights of all individuals. The college is committed to creating an inclusive teaching and learning community.

Administration Contacts:

Lisa Avery, President

Sheldon Flom, Vice President, Finance and Operations

Ann Buchele, Vice President, Academic and Student Affairs

Source: The Lbcc Website