Joe Ryder:
CLASS OF 1998
Vancouver School of Arts & AcademicsClass of 1998
Vancouver, WA
Ft. Vancouver High SchoolClass of 1998
Vancouver, WA
Mac Arthur SchoolClass of 1994
Vancouver, WA
Lieser Elementary SchoolClass of 1992
Vancouver, WA
Martin Luther King Elementary SchoolClass of 1992
Vancouver, WA
Joe's Story
As of 2008:
Ten years has passed since I was a VSAA student. Currently, my family is getting most of my attention now. I have been married for 5 years and have four kids: Alayna Carlin, Aiden Johnathan, Brooklyn Evelyn Brielle and Isabella McKenzie. Isabella is the youngest, born this year (as of this writing she is due in April). I have moved into my parents house, but not the same way as you may think. I am renting the house in preparation to purchase it, raising my kids in my childhood home.
I received a Bachelors in Business Administration and Project Management from American InterContinental University. After studying at the Art Institute of Portland and taking 6 years to complete my Bachelors (including breaks and a large change in my major), I am taking a break before I move on to my Masters.
I have worked for large corporations and small businesses. As of the beginning of 2008 I am working for Banfield, The Pet Hospital, part of their central team support for their 600 hospitals and millions of clients. It's a desk job and, though I am still an artist, I am pretty used to being in a cubicle by now (5 of my previous jobs were in cubicles). It's a rewarding job for now: they pay well and I get to help people ensure the best care for their pets by making the administrative part of hospital adjustments and billing run smoothly.
I haven't left my artistic background yet. I am freelancing as an integrated marketing consultant, specializing in web solutions. Between multimedia design, image design, copy writing, blogging, case study creation and digital photography, I am keeping it creative whenever I can. Currently I am working with small businesses in the Vancouver/Portland area to improve their marketing footprint through creative advertising, stuff most firms won't think of and most prospects would consider edgy enough to be memorable. Small businesses, in my opinion, run this country and are floundering, so anything to get their name out is better for all of us.
My opinions have changed since high school. I used to be a hardcore democrat, even though I considered myself on the fence about most things (I wasn't). I've since taken a det...Expand for more
our to conservatism, ending up where I am today as a moderate conservative. I could almost call my self Libertarian if I didn't think everyone running under that ticket was a wussy winer. I believe the war in Iraq was justified but got out of hand, I believe women should have their choice in child birth, environmental science is the most important and beneficial industry in today's economy, small business should be networked and used to replace corporate oppressive tactics on trade markets, international aid should not supercede domestic issues unless it impacts the country more than what we face at home (again, I believe Iraq was one of those immediate threats), I support our troops, I do not support universal health care (especially as someone who somewhat works in and has family in the healthcare field), I do support administrative streamlining in existing government health organizations and private HMOs, I believe a good technological plan in any candidate is a strong characteristic for my vote, I believe presidents do not decide the state of local communities and people should focus more of their energy in voting for competent senators and mayors, and I believe oursourcing is justified only if it creates service-oriented jobs in the states.
Not everything is grand for me. I have dealt with almost losing my oldest daughter (I have been fighting for custody for 5 years and see her every other weekend), I am filing bankruptcy (the only time I will ever do that), and I am struggling to get my ADHD under control (yeah, you can tell I hyperfocus a lot just by reading this long-assed autibiography). But I take it with my own flavor of patience and passivity. I'm like a pack mule in that regard; I just deal with it and get on with my life.
Lastly, I am attempting to create an alumni association as a program of the VSAA PTSA. I have been working with alumni for the last year-and-a-half and believe I have narrowed the function of this program down to what it needs to start. Time will tell how effective the program is to reconnecting the promising and worthwhile students of the VSAA back to the school and its alumni body.
Anything else? Let me know!
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