LaBelle optometrist Randall T. "Randy" Parrish is looking to the future. As an Edison alumnus and a member of the College's District Board of Trustees, he has his sights set on breaking ground for a permanent campus in Hendry County, possibly as early as 2010.

"It's an 80- to 100-mile commute round trip from Clewiston to Edison's Lee campus," Parrish says. "A campus close to home would bring a brighter future to generations of students and ensure that our most precious asset-talented, hard-working young people who will be the leaders of tomorrow remain in our community."

The Parrish family is a perfect example. Several members have completed their degrees at Edison, including Randy's son, Jordan, who graduated from Edison and is following in his father's footsteps to become an optometrist. Randy's brother, Tom, another alum, is an optician in the family practice and the office manager. Dr. Lamar Youmans, Randy's cousin and business partner, is also an Edison grad.

Parrish wants local students to have the opportunities he received while completing his pre-optometry requirements at Edison before transferring to the University of Florida, and later, the Southern College of Optometry. "Edison was a very good college experience," he says. "The classes were small, and the professors knew you as an individual, not a number. I'd do it again the same way."

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