Why I Like My Work
This year I completed 16 years of service at Central Wyoming College. I always feel a little sadness at the end of a semester. Many students, some of whom I have had the wonderful opportunity to get to know over several semesters, are leaving. This is a normal part of college life, most of them I will not hear from again. But, I also feel happiness. I know that these students are going out into the wide world and starting their lives, beginning new adventures. I am excited for them…
I was recently asked by a university colleague, “Why do you teach at a community college?”. I honestly replied that I wouldn’t have stayed with this job this long if I didn’t enjoy it, if I didn’t feel useful. I thought it might be a good opportunity to sit down and put some of my thoughts about it down. Maybe they would be useful to someone else.
I teach, a lot. Each semester I teach four to five lab science classes. I am responsible for all the lectures and labs. I have heard that you are who you hang around, and I like to think that working with my students has helped me keep young - and maybe do so forever… I like their energy!
My colleagues at the university have a lot of help with much of their teaching. I do all my prep work, both for lecture and lab. I do all my own assessment work. I order all my own supplies. I enjoy having control of the pacing and ways we learn in my classroom and lab. Even if I have taught the same classes for many years, no two lectures are exactly alike. No lab exercise runs exactly as planned. Everything is new to my students, and I share their enjoyment with them.
We do all our own curricular work here. While my courses don’t require the frequent revisions as those of some of my colleagues, we all get to help review the new classes and changes that are being proposed. I work on course-level assessment each semester and program-level assessment each spring. I enjoy and have learned a lot from seeing how other areas teach their subjects.
Every few years, we do longer term look-backs at our programs and think about what changes to make. I like seeing the successes in our program and helping to make sure that things that are not working get fixed. I enjoy the freedom I have to choose the materials I use and how I accomplish our course objectives.
I think that one of the most challenging, but the most rewarding parts of my job is acting as an academic advisor. Talking with my students about where they hope to be and what they would like to do, or at least where they think they would like to start and helping them find a way to get there is very rewarding.
That said, it is serious work. Many of my advisees are students that are planning on professional programs or graduate degrees. The first years of their educations give them the foundations that their educations are built upon. The rules for financial aid that students have to navigate are complex. Helping them choose courses that not only help them make good progress towards their degree at our college, but will also help them economically in time and dollars make good progress towards their career goals is rewarding.
I have opportunities to work with faculty from our sister community colleges, the University of Wyoming, and other institutions on grant-funded projects which provide opportunities for our students to learn about science by doing real science. Our long-standing participation in Wyoming INBRE has launched many of our students onto career pathways in the biomedical sciences. More recently, we participated in the Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project - which we are working to continue with new groups of students.
I have just started a multi-institution project with the Desert Research Institute looking at mineral dusts. It has been very exciting to see how our students, many of whom are first-generation students, become motivated by these opportunities. I also enjoy the networking opportunities and intellectual stimulation that might not come from teaching introductory level classes. I feel that I am getting to pass along some of the skills I learned in becoming a research scientist myself.
For the past 10 years, I have served as Director of our regional science fair. With this I have gotten to work with middle school and high school educators - enabling them to provide their students with opportunities to learn how to think scientifically about a question and to communicate their findings. I have greatly enjoyed helping them start their educational journeys.
None of this works without building relationships. I have enjoyed building relationships with my students, my colleagues, our college’s leadership, our community members and faculty from institutions both in and outside of our state. I don’t think that when I took this job that I thought that I would make as many connections or do as many things as I do, I have enjoyed this journey so far - and I look forward to the journey to come!