Callie Oppertshauser credits much of her success to the time she spent at St. Clair County Community College.
A Port Huron High School graduate, Oppertshauser, 29, participated in dual enrollment through the Blue Water Middle College Academy for an intermediate algebra class her senior year and graduated in 2008 with a 3.2 grade point average.
“It wasn’t good enough to get into any of the colleges I applied for,” she said. “I didn’t think I was ready to go away. I needed that transition period to learn how to study.”
She attended SC4 for just over two years, including summers, before deciding to transfer her 84 credits to Michigan State University to pursue elementary education.
“SC4 really helped me grow,” Oppertshauser said. “The professors were very supportive and cared. That’s why I didn’t transfer sooner, because I was comfortable and was doing well.
“I really learned how to be a student at SC4,” she continued. “If I would have gone away after the first year, I would have come back home. I learned how to manage my time and get all my work done.”
Oppertshauser graduated from MSU in 2014 with a bachelor’s in dietetics but ultimately accepted a full-time marketing position she had applied for a month earlier with Gannett at Port Huron’s Times Herald newspaper.
In January of this year, she accepted a position at the Port Huron Housing Commission as the administrative assistant to Executive Director Jim Dewey.
“I love the people I work with,” she said. “A lot of them have worked there over 10 years. It’s a great culture, and everyone is committed to serving people who need a helping hand. I’m happy to say that we’re able provide those in need with clean and safe housing.”
Outside of her work for the housing commission, Oppertshauser volunteers as a lunch buddy at Port Huron Schools’ Literacy Academy at Cleveland. The program — which is searching for more volunteers to pair with a long waiting list of students — focuses on mentoring children in grades K-5, helping them form a positive attitude toward school.
“I have been a lunch buddy since the beginning of this school year, and I look forward to it every week,” she says. “Being a mentor for a young student is one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had. Not only am I making a difference in a child’s life, but my lunch buddy is making a difference in mine as well.”
Oppertshauser explained she wanted to return to Port Huron after school to be close to loved ones. “I love Port Huron,” she said. “I love the water, and I really missed that when I was gone in the middle of the state. I have a very supportive family, and I didn’t want to get too far away.”
Oppertshauser isn’t the first in her family to attend SC4. Her mother, Lura, graduated from Port Huron Northern, while her father, Eric, attended Port Huron High School and earned his associate degree at SC4 on his way to becoming a police officer in Kansas City, Missouri. Her sister, Hillary, a 2010 PHHS graduate, went to SC4 before transferring to Macomb Community College for its early childhood daycare program.
“I’m really proud to have attended SC4,” she added. “It’s helped my whole future, leading me to success at Michigan State and ultimately in my career.”
