Paul Donatich

As I begin my second year as a WCC adjunct English instructor, I sometimes find it challenging to balance family, teaching, and a long commute to my full-time job in the business world that “pays the bills.” However, all of that is momentarily forgotten  when I walk into my Writing and Research class and watch the chatty/quiet/ sleepy/curious/interested/distracted/bored/eager students fill the room.

Unbeknownst to them, I see myself in them because I found my way at a community college. In 1990, at the age of twenty-seven with a wife and two young children and working full-time, I enrolled part-time in Nassau Community College without a clue of what I wanted to study. All I knew was that I wanted something better for myself and my family. With the encouragement of my English 1 instructor, Professor Brown, I decided to major in English and never looked back. Now at WCC, I am honored to give something back by sharing my love and knowledge of writing and literature. As one of my former students said in his September 17th Constitution Day speech, “Sometimes we just need a little push.” That is why I am here, and it give me great satisfaction.