Selling students on the value of coming to the Communications Lab is one goal of Lynette Leidner, lab supervisor, who assumed the position in January of this year.

Leidner has only been the supervisor for a short time, but she said she has already made a few alterations.

She said the Communications Lab has been rearranged.

Leidner said she is determined to get more students to use the lab’s resources.

Prior to supervising in the Communications Lab, Leidner said, she worked as an English Composition teacher for the University of Oklahoma and OCCC.

She also ran a restaurant, where she met a customer who offered her a job at a car dealership.

She began as a car salesman, before she worked her way up to finance manager of the dealership and then eventually business office manager.

She said she applied for the Comm Lab job because it combined two of her favorite things — running a business and helping students with English.

She also went to a community college, but she received her master’s degree in creative writing from the University of Oklahoma.

Leidner is going back to school where she is working on another master’s degree, this time for administrative leadership, she said.

She would like to establish a few programs in the future at OCCC.

“I hope to help introduce more literacy programs both at OCCC and in the surrounding communities,” she said.

One program she would like to introduce is a speed reading program.

Speed reading focuses on eye tracking and being able to read and comprehend faster, she said.

As a result from her speed reading, she said, she now can read up to 800 words per minute.

Leidner said her response to anyone who criticizes speed reading is speed reading is like anything else.

“It requires practice and commitment.”

She said the concept of speed reading is conditioning the brain so one could read and comprehend at a deeper level and faster rate.

“Sometimes it may take a little while for everything to click into place,” she said. “Once it does, however, the rewards are endless.

“My life-long passion is reading,” she said.

Her ultimate goal for the Communications Lab is to help students become more successful.

“I believe that Literacy is empowerment,” she said. “Being able to read unlocks and opens doors that could otherwise remain closed.”