Student Spotlight: Courtney Rohrer

By El Camino College September 22, 2021 Torrance

Growing up in Montana, El Camino College biology major Courtney Rohrer loved visiting the Museum of the Rockies, a place famous for its extensive paleontological collections. She spent most of her time among the massive dinosaur fossils and always wanted to get into this field someday.

After graduating from high school, Rohrer began a nine-year career with the U.S. Air Force, where she worked in information technology as a network administrator for cyber transport. She gained valuable career skills while stationed in Japan, Turkey and Germany, but always wanted to pursue her childhood dream of working with dinosaurs. She came to El Camino in 2018 to make that happen. Now Rohrer studies paleo biology, with a goal to transfer to USC to continue her studies as a qualitative biology major, which merges her interests in paleontology and her background in programming.

“The El Camino experience is pretty terrific,” she said. “The people are nice, and professors are fantastic and knowledgeable. I never liked math in high school and now this is the first time I have exceled at it. I think the teachers at El Camino got me to that point.”

One of the reasons Rohrer chose El Camino College was its Veterans Resource Center. Attending college on the GI Bill, she found staff members at the center who helped with the required paperwork and assisted in all aspects of making the transition to college life. She liked the experience so much, now she is a tutor in the Veterans Resource Center, helping other students.

“Not all community colleges have extensive services like El Camino,” Rohrer said. “The counselors have helped me out in so many ways and have offered excellent advice about planning my future. In the Veterans Resource Center, everyone gets along, and it is nice to have people to talk to who share similar experiences and are of a similar age, and etc. One of the best things about the center is the separate area where we can hang out, relax, and be together. It’s very positive all around.”