My path to Montgomery County Community College has been a long one.  At the time of my application, I was an Associate Professor of English at Valley Forge Military College with six years of full-time college teaching experience, plus eight years of teaching composition and ESL courses as a graduate student.   Two years prior, I had walked away from a tenure-track position as an Assistant Professor of English at a four-year Catholic college, to the surprise and dismay of many. While I am fiercely proud of the work I did at both schools and my impact on students, each institution lacked the diversity I was looking for in my classrooms in terms of economic class, ethnicity, and intellectual potential.  After work each night, I would drive past Main Line mansions and cross the river to reach my row home in the heart of Norristown, and I would feel as if I was not teaching the people I was meant to teach.  I don't know why it took me so long to notice that virtually every car on my street had a Montco parking sticker on it or why I had never considered the community college path a career option. I began to talk with grad school friends who had gone into community college teaching and was floored by the enthusiasm with which they spoke of their students and the work they were doing.  I decided to give it a shot, and I have not regretted my choice because I am making a real difference in the life of my students, my campus, and my community.

            What makes me an excellent professor is that I walk that fine line between inspiration and practical application that helps students believe in their potential and then develop the skills they need to realistically reach their goals.  By demanding excellence from my students and then giving them a path to reach it, I help students to elevate their own expectations for themselves and the future, be it the level of transfer school to which they apply, the career path they decide to pursue, or their own sense of self-worth. I love making my students pile up all their books and their essays at the end of the semester and simply look at the sheer volume of work they have accomplished. I love it even more when they go back and read their first papers and compare them to their final papers: they can see their own growth, and they can see how their hard work paid off in a useful way.  Most of all, I love getting the emails later when they see a horror film or watch a news report that reminds them of a topic or a theory we discussed: they retain what they learned and are applying it beyond the class.  That makes me very proud, almost as proud as when I hear, "I got in!" from a student for whom I had written a recommendation.

            As an active member of the English Department, I am proud of the roll I play in helping the English program evolve.  As a key player in redesigning English 101 and 102, particularly by developing the rubrics that are the foundation for our budding assessment process, I feel as if I am helping to preserve the key elements that have always made the English program a success while adding more recent developments in writing and literary pedagogy into the mix. I am also proud to have revived English 245, Science Fiction, from its long dormancy: in three years, the course has grown from an enrollment of nine to twenty-five students. Finally, having helped hire new faculty, having served on virtually every committee within the Department, and having taken over the leadership of the Writers Conference, I make a positive difference to the Department as a whole.

            At the College level, I am gratified that I have been able to serve in so many capacities.  As a member of the Lively Arts Committee, I am inspired by the passion my fellow faculty invest in bring the arts to surrounding community.  Having been invited to serve on the Bucknell Scholars Selection Committee, I found even deeper respect for our students and their potential by reading through their applications.  A similar feeling filled me as an invited member of the VP for Academic Affairs Search Committee: the quality of the applications we drew speaks to how respected we are as a nationally recognized community college. As a frequent CTL workshop leader, I am impressed with my fellow faculty members' desire to constantly improve.  Most significantly, as a two-term member of the College-wide Curriculum Committee, it has been my privilege to see committed faculty bring forth new courses and programs or to adjust existing ones to meet the evolving needs of student and the community.  I feel I have seen the best the College has to offer and am even more proud to be in the thick of it.

            When I accepted the position here at Montco, some of my family members, friends, and colleagues expressed concern that I was demoting myself, particularly by dropping from the rank of Associate Professor to a mere "instructor."  They simply didn't get it or what I wanted from my career, but Montco got it.  When I interviewed with then Vice President of Academic Affairs John Flynn, I asked him point blank if he was really going to let me off the leash I had felt at my other schools.  He smiled and promised me he would, and here I am, running like crazy, and loving every minute of it.  I have found a home that can make the most of my talents and interests, and I am here for the long haul.