Giving time to help others

Larsen’s long road at NPCC culminates with degree, volunteer award

Mary Larsen was born in North Carolina and raised in Australia. She graduated from Penshurst Girls High School in 1981. Thirty-two years later, Larsen has received her Associate of Arts degree from National Park Community College and seeks to continue her education at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia.

Larsen was recognized during the NPCC Employee Recognition Awards Program on May 7 for volunteering more than 1,000 hours at the Loco Bonita Ranch. She received the Gold level of the President’s Volunteer Service Award. Larsen said Mary Kay Wurm, Director of Career Services, hinted several times to her that she would receive some kind of award before finally telling her officially of the volunteer award.

“I just said, ‘Really, me?’ Surely there are more people that volunteer than me,” Larsen said. “And she goes, ‘Oh, no.’”

Larsen has lived in Hot Springs for 16 years. She went back to school in 2007. She applied for and received single parent scholarships in her first semesters at NPCC. Larsen said it feels like she has been in school for “forever.”

“I cannot say enough about National Park,” Larsen said. “On my first day, I was terrified. I was beaten and broken down pretty much. I had just lost a job that I really loved through nothing I did.”

Larsen said Mark Chapel, a writing professor, helped her to get over some of her early anxiety. She said writing is not her strongest subject, but Chapel’s course ended up being her favorite.

“He’s awesome. He opened my mind to thinking and being able to write, put what I was thinking down on paper and think outside of the box,” Larsen said.

It was the relationships she developed and the teachers she learned from that propelled Larsen into furthering her education over the years.

“It made me want to go on and finish and keep learning,” Larsen said.

Larsen continued to work towards a degree at NPCC while raising two children and working at a full-time job. She is the office manager for Hughco Alarms in Hot Springs.

Her daughter, Shaina Larsen, graduated from Cutter Morning Star High School this spring and was voted a senior homecoming queen last fall. Shaina Larsen has decided to attend Southern Arkansas University in Monticello to study animal nutrition.

Sam Larsen will be a junior at CMS next school year. He was inducted into the Cutter Morning Star High School Beta Club in December. It was her son, who attended Hot Springs Middle School at the time, that initiated her original interest in visiting the Loco Bonita Ranch five years ago.

“I thought it would be something great for my son, because he didn’t have a male influence in his life,” Larsen said.

Larsen heard about the ranch from owners John and Sonja McCaleb whom she knew from their church. She said the McCalebs discussed needing help going full-time with the ranch as both continued to work fulltime jobs as well. Larsen says she is now a part of her “ranch family” after losing contact and having minimal communication with her own family.

“They have kind of adopted me,” Larsen said.

Loco Bonita Ranch currently has 17 horses, two llamas, a pig and one donkey named Bugs. The ranch is located on 11 acres in Hot Springs at 132 Qualls Lane. The horses have been rescued from starvation, been purchased from individuals, purchased from horse auctions and others have been donated to the ranch.

Young children often visit the ranch and Larsen works with them to treat their fear of riding. She also works to counsel children with emotional problems. Larsen said she is still obtaining her riding skills again after breaking her tailbone in an accident three years ago. Activities at the ranch prevented her ranch family from attending her commencement ceremony at Summit Arena in May.

“I was more worried about them than what I was doing,” Larsen said. “It was cool. I’ve never walked across a stage before because you don’t do that overseas. Your last day of school you take a test and that’s it. You’re gone. So it was cool.”

As she moves on to Henderson, Larsen said she is exploring her future classes to determine what she needs to do to be a math teacher for adults in the future.