“I didn’t work well with school, but I was smart. I would skip school and go read books,” says Richard Witting. He dropped out of high school at 17, tried a few classes at CCV, and then moved to the West Coast for more than a decade. In Portland and San Francisco, he returned to familiar work: food.
People Need Us
Livija Mujkanovic immigrated to the U.S. from Bosnia at 19. She arrived in Vermont with her family, speaking no English. During her first year here, she worked two jobs—one as a housekeeper and one at Burger King. At home in Bosnia, she had been a student in law school.
Teaching a Community to Cook
CCV student Calito Amboise is from Haiti, and he brings with him a remarkable optimism. “Today I help you, tomorrow you help me,” he says. “We can make community. We have to work together. You don’t need a big revolution. Small by small can make the difference.”
Full Circle: Two CCV Grads on Making Records, Making Community, and Making a Life
CCV grads Justin and Randi-Lynn Crowther own and operate Burlington Record Plant, where pressing vinyl records has become a means of creating community.