Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The Places You’ll Go

When Jim Allison entered the Peace Corps, he carried more with him than a curiosity at seeing the world.  With his just-earned Engineering AS degree from Reynolds, Jim spent the late Eighties installing water systems in the Philippines. Sharing a laugh with his wife Milette, who he met while there, Jim recalls, “I think the boarding house we lived in charged 100 bucks a month. But, those were great times.” 
Like so many J. Sarge alumni, Jim’s “road to Reynolds” story is particularly fascinating because he was an adult student when he made the decision to enroll.  Growing up in Northern Virginia, Jim first attended college as a student at Randolph-Macon, which brought him closer to Richmond.  “And, I’d always worked construction. But, recruiters and head hunters kept asking me if I’d ever thought of becoming an engineer. I heard it from so many folks that I decided to take a serious look at it, and that’s how I ended up at Reynolds.”  It was a completely different academic experience for Jim – and, he flourished in it.
“The odd thing is that I’d just squeaked by at Randolph-Macon.  Then, I got to Reynolds and everything turned around.  The job of Reynolds is to prepare you for the next step and they do it incredibly well.  For instance, the professors are there to teach; their focus isn’t on publishing.  And, because of that, they are excellent instructors.”  In particular, Jim credits Dr. M.L. Foy and Fred McConnell for the fundamentals of engineering he learned in their classrooms. 
Jim recalls a time when his study group was meeting on a Sunday afternoon.  They were stumped by a math problem and decided to call their instructor at home.  “He actually drove in from Short Pump, and this was when Short Pump was really the country.  He drove in just to give us an extra lesson.  Not many professors would necessarily do that.” 
After Reynolds, Jim headed to Virginia Tech where he earned his Master’s Degree in Engineering. He worked as an engineer for the City of Richmond before leaving to help Milette run the couple’s business, a successful childcare center in Midlothian called The Learning Playhouse.  
Since 2007, Jim and Milette Allison have supported JSRCC as donors, adding precious resources to the college’s annual fund, the Fund for Reynolds. “I always figured I would give back.  It’s a fine school and I’ve had a number to compare it to.  For what it wants to do, Reynolds simply does it the best.”