Levi Pagel: "I'm excited to go to work every day"

After a couple of unexpected detours and changes in major, Levi Pagel found inspiration and connection at LBCC.

Now, as Linn-Benton Community College's High School Outreach Specialist he shares his lessons learned with prospective students.

Though he went in with a positive view of higher education, his first experience as a university student was difficult. "I was heavily undecided," he said. "They put me in communications. I was not engaged, and I didn't live on campus." After a year, Pagel dropped out.

He was working full-time at Safeway when he felt encouraged to give school another try. "My partner started attending LBCC and I was excited for them," he said.

He started on the path that his friends were taking – computer science, and eventually switched to sociology. "I'm very back end, but I excel at dealing with people," Pagel said.

With his educational journey on track, he unintentionally became part of the great resignation.

"My plan was to work part-time at Safeway," he said. "Safeway didn't like that." They were only willing to cut his hours to 30 a week, he said. That wasn't going to work for him, so he resigned.

A combination of scholarships, grants and work-study made it possible for Pagel to continue his education.

"The nice thing is a scholarship never goes wasted," Pagel said. "The Foundation staff will reassign a scholarship if the original students leave LB. I benefited from this situation as a runner-up." 

Money from LBCC's emergency fund helped Pagel pay for costly car repairs, making it possible for him to continue attending school.

Working on campus also was beneficial for Pagel. The mentorship he received from Student Leadership Coordinator Rob Camp while working at the student union was invaluable.

"He said the best way to succeed is to say, ‘yes,' to a lot of things," Pagel recalled. "I've followed that belief since."

Because of those "yeses," Pagel gained experience running events, and participated in different clubs and student leadership council. "That's where things started to take off," he said. As part of student leadership, he advocated at the state level for students.

"Levi has always been very easy to work with," Camp said. "His passion for being an advocate for students and willingness to share his own story make him such a special individual. One of the first things I ever noticed/learned about Levi was his enthusiasm for learning how he could help connect others to resources or people."

Pagel demonstrated that when he lobbied with LBCC President Dr. Lisa Avery. 

"I didn't know I was going to be testifying by myself for two minutes," he said. "I knew we were talking in their offices, but she said a student perspective is so much more monumental. The first time I went up I was so proud. I went off script and said my own thing."

In those two minutes, Pagel talked about the financial needs of students as budget cuts were looming because of reduced state funding. "I just felt like I was going to say what life is like," Pagel said.

He shared the results of a survey that showed LBCC students' top concerns were financial insecurity, food insecurity and mental health. "If we have less funding, we will have less student support," Pagel said. "I know the world's not always about money, but to college students it truly is. School will take a back seat."

The testimony from him and other students had some impact.

"The legislators did increase (funding) from the original level, even though it wasn't near what we (fully) needed," he said. "Our words did speak something to them."

As a high school outreach specialist, Pagel encourages students to say "yes" to opportunities.

While he understands balancing work and school may be a struggle, he cautions students to not let work consume them. And going to school isn't just about the coursework. He encourages students to find a purpose on campus, some kind of community.

When they first moved from Dallas to Lebanon, Pagel and his partner didn't have any nearby friends, he said. "Then we started at LBCC, and now we have a solid friend group," Pagel said. "It's insane to think about. It was right before Covid. We met them through our classes. Another thing to thank LBCC for."

Pagel is glad to give back to the place that helped him, he said. "After a year in this job, I just don't see myself not being in it," Pagel said. "I'm excited to go to work every day."