1.
When did you decide you wanted to be a college professor?
After
I realized that I had very few marketable skills. I couldn’t work in
an office (poor speller, worse at math) and food service was just too
hard. I was capable of going to school and talking a lot so I became a
college teacher.
2.
Did you have support and enthusiasm from family or did they want you to do something else?
My spouse was a college teacher so he supported me. Through marriage, I got my master’s degree for free.
3.
Did you begin your college-level education directly out of high
school or did you have a break; and if you had a break, what did you do
during that time?
Started
right out of high school but then was busted for trying to carry pot
onto an airplane so I had a “gap year” as I paid all my tuition money
for my sophomore year to the lawyer who got me off. After that I
married and got three years of my B.A. for free.
3.
What was your hardest class in college and why?
In
my undergraduate years I found my required science course, Biology,
very difficult. The lecture class was 200 people and the teacher was
boring.
I’m very poor at math so measurement and problem solving in science was
difficult for me.
In my masters work I had a very boring theatre history class – I loved the material but the terrible teacher made it difficult.
In
my doctoral work it seemed like every class was difficult. I
occasionally had teachers who clearly didn’t like me or my style and
would sometimes
“cut me off at the knees” in class. Because my master’s program didn’t
prepare me very well for the doctoral work, I felt like Alice in
Wonderland, running as fast as I could just to stay in one place. I
worked very hard to get my doctorate completed.
4.
What was your easiest and why?
Every
English and literature class I took as an undergraduate was easy
because I’m smart, I read well, and I enjoyed the material. Also, I
went to
a minor state school in Idaho and the teachers were not very demanding
(except my spouse).
5.
What do you think the qualities are of a good student?
I
don’t believe in “good” students and “bad” students. I believe that
there are “good” performances and “bad” performances. People change. A
person
is not the same in one situation as she is in another.
6.
What is your teaching style?
Goofy and annoying. If it’s not fun for me I don’t do it. I like a combo of lecture and activities.
7.
What do you feel are the biggest roadblocks to students' success?
I suppose “inner drive” is also important but that’s also influenced by cultural values.
8.
If you had it to do over, would you do the same thing?
While
I believe in reincarnation, I don’t believe that I have much to do with
any do-overs. I guess if I could CHOOSE a do-over, I’d choose to be
a cat in a good home with plenty to eat, nice cat toys, and a high wall
walkway. So, no, I wouldn’t do the same thing because cats don’t need
to have jobs anymore except being pretty and fluffy. And that’s what
I’d like to be – pretty and fluffy, well fed
and sitting in the sun.
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