Other News
Jan 19, 2025: Four districts, six unions, three PTAs, and county leadership all agree: legislators must take action to fully fund education no
Dec 19, 2024: San Juan County Parks and Fair Announces New Camping Software; Delaying Reservation Availability
Dec 10, 2024: County Council Considers Extending Agreement with Lopez Solid Waste to Allow for More Collaboration
Dec 5, 2024: San Juan County to Consider Updated Interlocal Agreement with Lopez Solid Waste Disposal District
Dec 2, 2024: San Juan County Council Sets Public Hearing for Cultural Access Sales Tax at Dec. 10 Meeting
Nov 25, 2024: San Juan County Celebrates Completion of Lopez Skate Park and Calls for Inaugural Skaters
Nov 7, 2024: How Has Extreme Weather Impacted You? Participate in the County’s Climate Resilience Planning Effort
Nov 1, 2024: UPDATE: Sea Wall Repairs Temporarily Close MacKaye Harbor Dock and Boat Ramp on Lopez Island
Oct 22, 2024: DRAFT North Shore Preserve Stewardship and Management Plan Now Open for Public Comment
Oct 21, 2024: Reminder: You’re Invited to Attend Open Houses for the 2025 Comp Plan Update This Fall
Oct 1, 2024: LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF THE SAN JUANS SPONSORS OCTOBER COUNTY COUNCIL VOTER FORUMS ON SJI, ORCAS, AND LOPEZ
Sep 24, 2024: County Hosts Community Meeting on Lopez Island to Discuss Public Safety during Hunting Season
Sep 24, 2024: SJC Reviews Shoreline Habitat & Infrastructure Adaptation Strategies in the face of Sea Level Rise
Sep 23, 2024: DRAFT Watmough Bay Preserve Stewardship and Management Plan Now Open for Public Comment
Aug 29, 2024: San Juan County’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging Survey Sets Baseline for Ongoing Change
Aug 27, 2024: 2024 San Juan County WSU Master Gardeners Gardening Workshop Series, October 15-24, 2024
Aug 27, 2024: County Representatives Discuss Solutions to Ferry Service Disruptions with Governor Inslee
Aug 21, 2024: County Council’s Request to Governor for Relief from Ferry Service Disruptions Not Fulfilled
Aug 20, 2024: San Juan County Certifies Primary Election Results & Celebrates Highest Primary Turnout in Years
Aug 13, 2024: WSF Commits Additional Crews to Interisland Route to Ensure Service During County Fair Week
Aug 13, 2024: Ferry Data from Staff and Local Partners Shapes Council Request for ‘Executive Relief’ From WA State
Aug 5, 2024: The Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival returns to Lopez for its 27th Summer Concert Season
May 2, 2024: WA State Governor and Assistant Secretary of WSF Talk Ferry Service & Solar Power with SJC Officials
Apr 11, 2024: Community Meeting: Sea Level Rise Adaptation for Outer Bay and Agate Beach Areas on Lopez Island
Mar 11, 2024: Queers in Unexpected Places: Searching for (and Finding) Gender and Sexual Non-Conformity in the Rural and Early PNW
Mar 7, 2024: DRAFT Richardson Marsh Preserve Stewardship and Management Plan Now Open for Public Comment
Dec 5, 2023: County Council Member Jane Fuller and Senator Liz Lovelett to Host Public Meeting on Lopez
Nov 3, 2023: County and Town Send Open Letter to State Officials Regarding Impacts of Poor Ferry Service
Sep 29, 2023: Conservation Land Bank Announces Special Meeting to Discuss Watmough Bay Preserve Addition
Sep 14, 2023: The mobile dental van is coming to Lopez! // ¡La camioneta dental móvil ya llega a López!
Aug 22, 2023: San Juan County Adopts 32-Hour Work Week in the Name of Fiscal Health, Recruitment, and Islander Wellness
May 25, 2023: Recap of Lopez Neighborhood Meeting Regarding the Relocation of Public Works Facilities
May 23, 2023: District 3 Councilmember Jane Fuller Opens Office on Lopez and Hosts Community Conversation
Apr 17, 2023: Give Lopez Starts April 17th - A two week fundraiser benefiting 15 Lopez Island Non-Profits
Sep 22, 2022: Interim Watmough Preserve Addition Stewardship and Management Plan Now Open for Public Comment
Catching Up With Lopez Graduates: Reese Hamilton
Jun 6, 2023
By Gretchen Wing
As part of its “Where are they now?†series, the Lopez Island Community Scholarship Foundation (LICSF) is pleased, and somewhat awed, to report that Reese Hamilton, Lopez ’20, will graduate from Willamette University in August of 2024 with not one but three degrees: a Bachelor’s of Arts, and both a Bachelor’s and a Masters in Data Science. Hamilton might be majoring in Economics at the Salem, Oregon school, but his true skill seems to be adaptability.
Graduating from high school and starting a four-year university at the height of the pandemic was challenging enough, but Hamilton seems to have exceeded mere accommodation to constraints. The same day as this interview, Hamilton was to present his Capstone paper, a.k.a. the thesis for his Economics major. A thesis, at the end of junior year? “Yeah,†Hamilton says casually, “I already got into grad school, so I’m doing my thesis early.â€
How did Hamilton manage to fit so much learning into just over three years? Taking advantage of Willamette’s “3 + 1†Masters program sounds simple in his explanation: “I did all my prerequisites last year, so all next year will be mix of grad/undergrad, then next summer will be my internship...†Hamilton’s matter-of-fact answer hints of an underlying approach like the Nike slogan: Just Do It.
Originally an exercise/Health science major, Hamilton switched to Economics, then joined Willamette’s new Data Science program. The best part, Hamilton says, is the way the program vaults him straight into real work. His upcoming internship with the Carlton Business Association (in Carlton, a small town outside of Salem), which includes wineries, shops, a bakery and two farm-to-table restaurants, will involve data consultation for water usage.
Why did Hamilton choose Willamette in the first place? His golf skills played a role, but the university’s size also mattered. “Small schools are more appealing,†he says. “You can build relationships with your professors, and I couldn’t imagine myself being successful without that.†Salem’s location, with Portland, Eugene, Corvallis, Mt. Hood, and the coast “all within shouting distance,†was another draw, especially after Hamilton ended up quitting the golf team. “It was a seven-days-a-week time commitment, most of the year,†he reports, adding, “and I got what I wanted out of the experience.†Now, outside of class, he has more freedom to golf with friends, attend concerts or Blazers games, and explore the beauties of western Oregon.
While many 2020 Freshmen either opted for, or were forced into remote learning, Hamilton moved onto campus. He describes being masked everywhere, although roommates were allowed to choose about masking in-room. Most classes met on Zoom, even for on-campus students, and the cafeteria fed everyone with to-go boxes. “You’d go pick up your food, then eat outside,†Hamilton says, “but the weather was usually pretty bad,†so usually students ended up eating in their rooms. He thanks golf for allowing him to meet people, which was otherwise “pretty hard,†and he joined a fraternity at the end of freshman year. By sophomore year, he says, college life felt “semi-normal, so we could start doing active stuff together, and start really building relationships.â€
Instead of complaining about the disruption of his once-in-a-lifetime college experience, Hamilton reflects with equanimity: “I understand how other people could’ve had a hard time with it, but I was of the mindset that we needed to be doing what we were doing.â€
As for the shift from high school academics to college, Hamilton says, he didn’t “feel that well prepared, but it wasn’t hard to figure out.†He emphasizes that college classes “aren’t necessarily harder, but they are more time-consuming. They expect more. It’s not hard to get a B, but it’s really hard to get from a B to an A. But if you ask for help,†he adds, “you’ll get it.†He advises current Lopez students, “Be prepared for more work than you have now,†and take the hardest classes they can. “I took all of the hard stuff our school offered,†Hamilton says.
Asked if he has any other advice for future Lobo grads, Hamilton responds eagerly. “Put yourself in situations where you can develop leadership skills above all else.†That, he says, has been the real secret of his success. Now the resident of his fraternity, Hamilton got a job leading Willamette’s Freshman Orientation next year, which involves hiring 60 other students, designing and running activities. His main feedback from employers, he says, has been about people skills: interviewing; self-marketing; communication. Employers “aren’t looking all that much at your course history, but at you: are you trustworthy, can you communicate?â€
Given his can-do work ethic, Hamilton will probably walk right into the job of his choice,after graduation in 2024. He does hope to travel again, as he did with Lopez School - Greece, Peru, Nicaragua - but wherever he ends up, whatever is to be done, it seems likely that Reese Hamilton will just do it.
How did Hamilton manage to fit so much learning into just over three years? Taking advantage of Willamette’s “3 + 1†Masters program sounds simple in his explanation: “I did all my prerequisites last year, so all next year will be mix of grad/undergrad, then next summer will be my internship...†Hamilton’s matter-of-fact answer hints of an underlying approach like the Nike slogan: Just Do It.
Originally an exercise/Health science major, Hamilton switched to Economics, then joined Willamette’s new Data Science program. The best part, Hamilton says, is the way the program vaults him straight into real work. His upcoming internship with the Carlton Business Association (in Carlton, a small town outside of Salem), which includes wineries, shops, a bakery and two farm-to-table restaurants, will involve data consultation for water usage.
Why did Hamilton choose Willamette in the first place? His golf skills played a role, but the university’s size also mattered. “Small schools are more appealing,†he says. “You can build relationships with your professors, and I couldn’t imagine myself being successful without that.†Salem’s location, with Portland, Eugene, Corvallis, Mt. Hood, and the coast “all within shouting distance,†was another draw, especially after Hamilton ended up quitting the golf team. “It was a seven-days-a-week time commitment, most of the year,†he reports, adding, “and I got what I wanted out of the experience.†Now, outside of class, he has more freedom to golf with friends, attend concerts or Blazers games, and explore the beauties of western Oregon.
While many 2020 Freshmen either opted for, or were forced into remote learning, Hamilton moved onto campus. He describes being masked everywhere, although roommates were allowed to choose about masking in-room. Most classes met on Zoom, even for on-campus students, and the cafeteria fed everyone with to-go boxes. “You’d go pick up your food, then eat outside,†Hamilton says, “but the weather was usually pretty bad,†so usually students ended up eating in their rooms. He thanks golf for allowing him to meet people, which was otherwise “pretty hard,†and he joined a fraternity at the end of freshman year. By sophomore year, he says, college life felt “semi-normal, so we could start doing active stuff together, and start really building relationships.â€
Instead of complaining about the disruption of his once-in-a-lifetime college experience, Hamilton reflects with equanimity: “I understand how other people could’ve had a hard time with it, but I was of the mindset that we needed to be doing what we were doing.â€
As for the shift from high school academics to college, Hamilton says, he didn’t “feel that well prepared, but it wasn’t hard to figure out.†He emphasizes that college classes “aren’t necessarily harder, but they are more time-consuming. They expect more. It’s not hard to get a B, but it’s really hard to get from a B to an A. But if you ask for help,†he adds, “you’ll get it.†He advises current Lopez students, “Be prepared for more work than you have now,†and take the hardest classes they can. “I took all of the hard stuff our school offered,†Hamilton says.
Asked if he has any other advice for future Lobo grads, Hamilton responds eagerly. “Put yourself in situations where you can develop leadership skills above all else.†That, he says, has been the real secret of his success. Now the resident of his fraternity, Hamilton got a job leading Willamette’s Freshman Orientation next year, which involves hiring 60 other students, designing and running activities. His main feedback from employers, he says, has been about people skills: interviewing; self-marketing; communication. Employers “aren’t looking all that much at your course history, but at you: are you trustworthy, can you communicate?â€
Given his can-do work ethic, Hamilton will probably walk right into the job of his choice,after graduation in 2024. He does hope to travel again, as he did with Lopez School - Greece, Peru, Nicaragua - but wherever he ends up, whatever is to be done, it seems likely that Reese Hamilton will just do it.
