Western Oregon Journal

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What is there to do in small towns? Perhaps living in Monmouth (if even just for a short time) has caused you to ponder this. Tiffany Kehl, a freshman at Western, has found a few things to bide her time back in her hometown of Tillamook population 24,922, according to the 2004 census.

Kehl went to Tillamook High School, where she sang in the choir all four years. Three of those years, she participated in the vocal-ensemble Elite Choir, a group good enough to be invited on a cruise.

Kehl was also a part of her school's cheerleading team for her entire high-school career. She was so involved with cheerleading that when her senior project came around she chose to coach the junior-varsity team.

When there was nothing to do, and the school was closed, Kehl and her friends would have to find other things to pass their time. One night, while rather bored, the group decided to go out and hunt rats on a local farm. When they had found and captured one, Kehl was the one to actually swing her bat and kill it. She says that "guts went everywhere," and that all her friends laughed. This may have been what caused her to earn the nickname (which has stuck) "Rat."

During the daylight hours, Kehl would volunteer at her church, singing for the youth worship team. She also went to Mexico on a mission trip to build a house for the homeless. Her efforts for building homes did not take place only in other countries. Kehl also volunteered locally with Habitat for Humanity so that she could help those less fortunate in her community.

As Kehl prepared for college, she was thinking that she would major in fashion, but now is uncertain of what she is going to major in. She is debating many of the options now in front of her.

Kehl has made a good past and is taking steps to a good future here at Western. Until she graduates she plans to have fun because, as she puts it, "I love life."

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