Public Relations

Golden Eagle calls NWACC experience memorable

          BENTONVILLE (Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008) Losing his job at a former area factory turned out to be a good thing for John Snyder, who will graduate from NorthWest Arkansas Community College with an Associates of Applied Science in Business Management in December 2008.

            He will be presented the Golden Eagle Award for October 2008 at the Board of Trustees’ monthly meeting.

            Snyder (pictured right) hales from Guam, a small island in the Pacific Ocean nestled between Australia, the Philippines and Japan.

            “When I was 3 my family relocated to Airway Heights, Washington,” he said. He graduated in 1983 from Cheney High School.

            “I spent 4 years in the U.S. Marine Corps,” he said. “After serving my time in the Marines I moved back to Washington State.”

            Snyder, who commutes from Lincoln, Ark., located to Northwest Arkansas in October 1994 and gained employment at Superior Industries in Fayetteville.

            There, he held positions of Laboratory Supervisor and Trainer for the chrome plating facility.

            Snyder, who has four children, was laid off in August 2006.

            “I remember thinking,” he said, “this is not a good thing.’ Much to my surprise it turned out to be fantastic opportunity and a major turning point in my life.

            “I received the opportunity to go to school as part of a state retraining program.”

            Going back to school after 25 years was a bit intimidating, he said.

            “I started my college career in January of 2007 and have attended every semester since,” Snyder said. “In the fall semester of 2007 I was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa and have been an active member assisting in all of this groups activities.

            He calls the NWACC faculty and staff “wonderful.”

            Snyder is a member of Phi Theta Kappa and has an “A” average.

            “They have made my tenure at NWACC a very memorable experience,” he said. “I am delighted to be a Student Ambassador and Activities Board member because I want to be more involved and be more than just another student. I want to give some of myself to an institution that has given me so much.”

            Adapted from John Snyder’s Student Ambassador and Activities Association (SAAB) Profile

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This page was last updated on:  December 21, 2009 @ 8:51 am