An inspirational mother and daughter story
Published 9:43 am Friday, January 30, 2026
They’re helping each other through life and school
By HEATHER DOUGLAS
The Astorian
Brandi Swiderski graduated from Clatsop Community College the same year that her daughter Toby Strider graduated from Clatskanie High School in 2023. They will share a second graduation date next spring at Portland State University. “She will be graduating with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing the same weekend I graduate with my MBA and MSADSB in June 2027,” said Swiderski.
The synchronicity of the pair’s educational journey was instigated by a confronting mother-daughter conversation between the two.
Strider asked her mother: Why should I go to school if you never finished?
Swiderski — who is a hairdresser and recovered addict from Longview, Washington — promptly enrolled in the Adult Basic Education program at Clatsop Community College to complete her GED studies. She said the school “felt accessible and human at a time when I needed education to feel possible again.”
As a non-traditional student, she said CCC was welcoming.
“I did not feel defined by my past there. Instead, I felt seen for my potential,” said Swiderski. “CCC offered structure without intimidation and support without judgement, which made it the right place for me to start over academically.”
Swiderski powered through her GED and was poised to move on to her college studies when she found out she was pregnant with her second child, Thomas Galloway. “The day I drove down to enroll in college classes, about a week after finishing the GED, I came home to find out I was pregnant. That first term of school, I was working full time, taking 14 credits and in my first trimester,” she said.
To offset potential barriers, Swiderski created a tight day-to-day structure. Mondays and Tuesdays were set aside for school work “from the time I woke up to the time I went to bed.” Wednesdays through Saturdays were for working at Hannah’s Salon in Longview from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“The tactic that helped me through it was just focusing on the step right in front of me,” said Swiderski. It was honestly moment by moment.”
While Swiderski juggled her responsibilities incessantly, to outsiders like Amy Magnussen, Pre-College TRIO Director at Clatsop Community College, she looked strong.
“Brandi was a student who had it together, though I know it didn’t always feel that way from her perspective. She actively sought out every opportunity available to her and had an amazing ability to balance her academic responsibilities with work and family life,” said Magnussen.
A key to Swiderski’s survival was finding support networks. Magnussen was Swiderski’s TRIO Student Support Services Advisor from 2021 to 2023. The program’s title is not an acronym, but rather stands for a collection of three Federal outreach programs — Upward Bound, Talent Search and Student Support Service. TRIO includes student support that encompasses academic tutoring, personal guidance, academic counseling, financial guidance and mentoring with the aim of retention in academics and identifying students who face barriers to an education.
Magnussen couldn’t help but notice the challenges Swiderski faced as a non-traditional student who had both family responsibilities and work duties. “I think that was probably one of the most challenging aspects of her journey, figuring out how to stay on top of her studies when life is throwing curveballs,” she said.
Magnussen and Swiderski met regularly to talk about her academic plans as well as transfer options and scholarships.
“I did not have a clear plan at first,” said Swiderski. “I knew for sure I did not want to work in education or health care. I started by taking general business courses because I felt that knowledge would come in handy as a hairstylist if I ever branched off into salon ownership.
“I did have a lot of help from Amy, my TRiO advisor, figuring out which area of business I wanted to study and which university to transfer to so that I could maximize my transfer credits.”
Magnussen was eager to help.
“As a person in recovery, Brandi brought an especially strong sense of determination to her education, coupled with a deep understanding that investing in herself would create positive ripple effects for those around her. “Beyond her academic commitment, she was also deeply community-minded, and she took care of the people around her, making delicious desserts for her classes and TRIO peers,” said Magnussen. “Her journey reflects both personal resilience and a genuine dedication to giving back to her community.”
That support network also included friends like Camille Leavitt who Swiderski said was a “significant part of my journey.” The two met when Leavitt was Associate Student Body president and Swiderski was serving as president of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society. “We kind of challenge each other to be better,” she said. “When one of us ‘levels up,’ so does the other, so having her friendship makes me work harder and do better daily.”
Those moments of inspiration were peppered with true support in the hard times. “It’s also nice to have someone to complain to who knows exactly what I am going through with college stress,” Swiderski said. “She is also in her master’s program for a qualified mental health professional. She really is one of the best people I know.”
Swiderski credits her grandfather, too.
“He believed in me long before I believed in myself and consistently encouraged me to keep going. His quiet support and steady presence shaped my persistence more than he probably realized.
“I feel incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by people who challenge me, support me, and believe in what I am building.”
The big moment
In 2023, Swiderski graduated from CCC with plans to pursue graduate studies. In yet another synchronous moment, Swiderski was cutting her grandpa’s hair at the salon when she received a phone call that would change her life. Magnussen and Deac Guidi — a faculty member who provided support throughout her journey — sent an email asking for a video call. She had applied for the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship – and was even chosen as a semifinalist — but “there was more or less a 3% chance I would get it.”
She had no idea what the phone call was about.
“When I got on the call, my communications instructor, Deac, who I call my friend these days, was also on the call and I thought maybe it was some type of mental health intervention because I had been going through some very rough things in my personal life and had been discussing my depression more openly than normal. But, Amy said ‘Brandi, how would you tell a student that they won a $55,000 a year scholarship?’ I started crying, my boss, Hannah, was jumping up and down so excited for me. I had also just finished cutting my grandpa’s hair, so he was still at the salon, and he started crying. My grandpa had stood beside me when I was at my worst, long after the rest of the world had given up on me, so to have him be there, at that moment, was everything,” she said.
Swiderski is still in shock. “The other semifinalists were doing such amazing things within their community, and here I was, a recovering addict with a GED. I felt that there was no way I would be selected,” she said.
The award provinces up to $55,000 a year to support community college students transferring to four-year institutions.
Full circle together
Back in 2023, Swiderski’s daughter Toby Strider had attended a field trip during her senior year to Portland State University and Oregon State University. “I remember walking through the campus with two of my closest friends and going ‘this is the one,’ because of it being downtown Portland. I grew up loving any trips we made to Portland because hey, I’m from a small town and don’t get to see the big city that often,” she said.
Strider’s best friend also chose PSU making the transition easier, but it didn’t hurt to have her inspirational mom around either.
“The way she was able to pick herself back up after everything she had been through. … As a kid, I hadn’t had that much faith in my mother because she had proven time and time again that she was only going to let me down, so when I was forced to live with her, I thought it was going to be the same. Of course as a teenager we argued all the time. I wasn’t able to appreciate the sacrifices she made for me to be here,” she said. “I think the first time I realized that I was truly proud of my mother was watching her graduate from CCC and listening to her speech.”
“We started at PSU the same year,” said Swiderski, who made the trip to Portland a couple of times a week for her in-person business honors classes while Strider moved to campus full time.
Strider works at the PSU library and Swiderski said she packs lunch for the both of them and drops off her daughter’s sack lunch at her work before heading to her own classes.
“I love having her there because we still meet up and connect and spend time together, and most parents who send their children off to college don’t get to have that,” she said.
Swiderski feels the triumph of her metamorphosis as well as the growing pains. “The transition was intimidating at first. A large campus can feel overwhelming after a small college environment,” she said.
She employed the same strategies at PSU that she had at CCC — getting involved in programs, student organizations, and relationships “with faculty who were genuinely invested in student success,” she said. “Over time, PSU feels like home.”
