2026 SLC Election Candidate Profile – Jaymie Poujade

 My mom went back to college, and she’s like, hey, you should come do this. It’s really great. And I was like, you know what? I think I could go into animal technology. That seems achievable.


We actually started around the same time. And we’re both nontraditional students. It was actually kind of nice having my mom be here because she already got to figure out all of the ins and outs of what you do at college, and I didn’t have to go through that transitional period.


But I am seeing those students that are going through that transitional period and the struggling that it takes to do that. I’m grateful, but how can I bring that to these other students as well? Because it’s hard coming back as an older student. 


You hear so much negativity about college. It’s gonna be so hard. The professors are gonna be so rough. And that’s actually what stopped me from going when I was younger was the stigma, look at all these barriers.  If you don’t do this, then you’re not gonna succeed. And it’s like that prevented me from a lot of it. College is scary if you’ve never been here.


Then my mom came back to go get her (Human Development and Family Science) degree, and you know what? It’s really not that hard. Come and try it. So here I am.


What I had heard in high school was that the instructors are gonna be just so mean and spiteful. But the instructors are so awesome. They really are. I love my instructors.


I have a lot of experience already in the human services department. And my mom’s goals are to run a 501c. I wanted to do something different. Because I still do work in charity work and do stuff like that.  I actually have my pure wellness support certification through the state of Oregon. 


I chose to do animal technology because the classes are fun and I’ve always loved animals. It is so nice to go in there and have upbeat professors that love what they do, that want to encourage you to be there. Coming here has been awesome. And it’s great to be in a two-year program. I feel like that  gave me an easier goal than if I were to go to a four-year.


I wanted something that was gonna be achievable for me. And with running a trucking company and doing my support stuff that I do outside of this, it was perfect for me to be able to do this and just come and do my 12 credits and work on that and have something additional in my portfolio.


I’m on my ninth year of helping the houseless population. How it started was I was helping with the inclement weather program in Corvallis, where we housed people that were medically fragile or families in hotel rooms to help them get out of the weather. So, when we had that big ice storm, I actually spent that entire week in a hotel helping houseless people and their families stay warm and dry and keep them from essentially succumbing to the weather. And I don’t think that a lot of people see the backside of that.


So we had one family that was a family of five, and it was over Christmas, year before last, when we had that big, really cold snap right around Christmas. And it was the mom, the dad, and the three daughters, and we were able to put them up in a hotel. And I almost cried. It made me so emotional.


All they wanted to do was have popcorn and watch (a film) for Christmas. And we were able to do that for them. And it was, I believe, March of that next year, the mom went in and did the housing program that helps you go through classes, and they help pay your rent. And they’d actually gotten housed, the entire family. And it’s stories like that that keep me in it.


I’ve seen what the struggle looks like. I’ve been in the struggle. And I think that it’s important to get more resources here on campus. I think that we can just do more to serve students. I think that food insecurity, though, has become a buzzword around campus, and I feel like there is a disconnect between what that actually looks like and what that means.


I want to see people here succeed. And talking to the students, I just want to support them better.  And I want them to understand what’s happening. A lot of people do not realize that they can attend a lot of these public meetings. I’d like to see that better displayed. The SLC meetings are open to the public.


I feel like with the way we are right now I don’t think that we’re reaching our full potential. I want to see LBCC be at its full potential. And especially with all the cuts and stuff that are coming, we need to be at our best. 


I want change. That’s my thing. I want to see transparency.


–


Editor’s note: Edited and condensed for clarity and to give equal coverage to each candidate.

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