Richland Chronicle

Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: Person of the Week

Media Credit: Tambra Sanders If you want to get someplace, you work hard at it. I had to work harder because I didn't have talent in some things, but I had discipline.

Media Credit: Tambra Sanders This rickety chair gave way and I fell to the floor. The students all looked stunned and there was absolute silence in the room. I told them, if you don't laugh, I will flunk you. Humor is very important. You must be able to laugh at life and yourself.

This is the story of a Texas girl--by way of Colorado--who went to college. She loved it.

"I never got out of college. I liked it so much, I stayed forever," said Trudi Swedlund.

Education was very important. Both of her parents went to college during the Depression and made sure that their three children attended college.

Swedlund did all the things you would expect from a girl growing up in the small Texas town of Elsa. She was a Girl Scout, a member of the 4-H Club and played clarinet in the high school marching band.

She loved trying new things like baton twirling and joined the Ham Radio Club.

Swedlund wasn't a cookie-cutter southern belle.

"I didn't make it as a cheerleader and I wasn't a member of the Future Homemakers of America. I'm not a cook and can't sew. I wish I had joined, maybe I would have learned those skills," said Swedlund.

Even though education was important to the Swedlund family, it wasn't the easiest thing for young Trudi, who at age 4 was kicked out of kindergarten because she wouldn't color within the lines.

"The teacher said that I was too immature. I cried; mom dried my tears, fixed my pigtails, and a few months later, at age 5, enrolled me in first grade."

Swedlund credits her family as being her first tier of support. The second tier were her teachers. It was her fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Bigby, who understood that Trudi was hyperactive.

Being an extrovert and talkative sparked Swedlund's love for theater and she performed in many of the school's productions. However, her favorite teachers taught English and speech.

"Anything you try to attempt, do it well. I might do it well for five minutes but I give it my all," said Swedlund, who gave her all in chemistry and French but didn't earn A's in those courses.

"My first grade on my college transcript was a D in Chemistry. I worked so hard but it wasn't for me."

Swedlund's gift was not in foreign language but in English.

"I strugged in high school Spanish. My peers taught me algebra and Spanish. I had good teachers, but my peers spoke the language of my generation," Swedlund said.

It was a good trade off as she tutored her peers in English.

"I chose friends who were stronger and more talented so that made me work harder," said Swedlund.

As Swedlund grew up, she chafed at sterotypes. At the time she was raised, women were told to become homemakers, secretaries, nurses or teachers. They were not taught that they could be anything else.

"Your highest goal is to get married. You were not told that you can do what the men you want to marry do.

I walked through the culture oblivious to the messages women got to stop their education and suppress their dreams."

It was when her parents gave her the choice between a grand wedding or traveling around the world for four months. Swedlund was no dummy - Asia, Africa, Morocco, Spain, Portugal - the allure of education abroad was an easy choice.

After obtaining a bachelor's in English and education with a concentration in theater from the University of Houston, her master's degree in English at Southern Methodist University was done completely by scholarships.

Fresh out of school, Swedlund was ready to conquer the world and sent out 250 letters to prospective employers. She got one response and was hired as a counselor at a women's college in Columbia, Missouri.

With even more education and experience under her belt, Swedlund was determined and this time sent out 350 letters to prospective employers. She was offered two jobs: a college administration job in California or a teaching position in English at Richland. That's when Richland became her home.

A hard worker, Swedlund went to the University of North Texas and earned a master's degree in education with a concentration in psychological counseling.

An education "junkie," Swedlund went back to school again, this time Amberton University in Garland, Texas, and Pacific University in Oregon for a certification in speech communication.

A venerable traveler and enlightenment seeker, Swedlund has participated in teacher exchanges, and taught psychology in Canada, and as a Fulbright scholar, taught in Denmark, India, Egypt and England.

She is the study abroad coordinator for Richland and has taken students to Rome, France, Great Britain and Ireland.

"Students need their horizons broadened. When you travel, you learn about other cultures and you are changed as a person," said Swedlund. She ought to know; after all, she chose a four-month trip abroad over an elaborate wedding.

At Richland, one of her funniest moments came as a surprise.

"This rickety chair gave way and I fell to the floor. The students all looked stunned and there was absolute silence in the room. I told them, if you don't laugh, I will flunk you," Swedlund said. "Humor is very important. You must be able to laugh at life and yourself."

For a couple of years, as a licensed professional counselor and licensed marriage and family therapist, Swedlund had a part-time private practice in marriage, personal and group counseling.

"If you want to get someplace, you work hard at it. If I didn't have talent in a particular area, I had discipline and worked hard."

That is discipline. That is success in Trudi Swedlund's life.

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