Alumni Profile: Chris Riddell '03

Firefighter, Emergency Medical Technician
City of Portland
Major at Linfield: Communications

What are you doing now?
I am a firefighter and emergency medical technician for the City of Portland.

Tell us about yourself.
I am 31, and recently married. My wife, Laura, is an executive assistant in the nursing division directors' office at OHSU, and she is getting her master's degree in healthcare management. I played football at Linfield and started applying for a job as a firefighter during my senior season, although I didn't get hired until about a year and a half after I graduated. I made the most of my time by starting and completing an associate's degree in Fire Protection Technology from Portland Community College, while working graveyard as a shuttle driver at a hotel. I worked for Corvallis Fire for almost three years, then re-tested, interviewed, was hired and ultimately moved to Portland where I've been since 2007. I work on a truck (100 foot long ladder with two steering wheels) in north Portland. I'm a second generation firefighter. It's my job to try to fix other peoples' problems, or at least improve them.

How did Linfield help prepare you for your career?
Linfield offers such a well-rounded education, and being a student-athlete helped even more so. Time management is critical during your first year going through "probation." You have to study when you're dead tired, and what's more important is that you have to retain what you've learned, because your life or someone's life depends on it. Some people freeze up in stressful situations, but Linfield taught me to study to the point that you have the confidence to do what you know.