When I was 18 years old, I came to WCC as a rudderless student. It was here I discovered great teaching and saw how it could transform lives. After leaving WCC I went on to earn a bachelor’s, three master’s and a Ph.D. But it is my WCC degree that I credit with having the greatest impact on my life.
Not many years after leaving WCC, my freshman English teacher, Carol Russett, hired me as a WCC adjunct. I have continued in that role for 46 years. I credit my time at WCC for starting me on a career that led me to become superintendent of 5 area school districts and mayor of my town. No matter what job I have held, I have always found time to teach at WCC. After all these years, it continues to be incredibly rewarding. Hopefully, I have changed a few lives the way my teachers at the College changed mine.
For me, teaching at WCC has been a welcome avocation with pay and benefits being secondary. In the case of many of my adjunct colleagues, life is a struggle as these talented individuals, most of whom hold advanced degrees, struggle to earn a living.