Since leaving the corporate world about 10 years ago, I have greatly enjoyed being an associate/adjunct faculty member at Collin College and a Graduate Teaching Assistant at Texas Woman's University (TWU).  Before I left corporate America, I began part-time teaching at Collin College, starting in 1998. Before leaving the military, I taught English at the U. S. Air Force Academy in Colorado. Presently, I teach freshman composition/rhetoric, as Professor of English on the Preston Ridge Campus of Collin College.

I love the challenges of teaching.  I love the interaction with students as we wrestle over the complexities of important ideas, life, literature, and academic writing.  Without meaningful challenges before us, life somehow seems empty and less rewarding.

Collin College provides an excellent environment for teaching and learning!  The community college environment here is very rich in teaching and learning resources.  Its digital learning platforms--such as Blackboard and WIMBA Classroom--provide instructors and students with excellent virtual learning experiences to supplement and complement the in-class instruction.

Our community college learning experience is truly vibrant in its varied dimensions.  Recent high school graduates find the community college experience to be an excellent way to discover what field of study they might truly want to pursue.  Older students, some of whom are balancing careers and families, find the courses a good fit for their busy lifestyles.  I am really sold on the community college learning experience as it meets the educational needs of many students with varying needs.

I have learned two really important things as a teacher that I would like to share.  First, good teachers really know when students are trying to learn--and good teachers respect these students for doing so.  Second, good students really know when teachers are trying to teach--and good students respect these teachers for doing so.  These two aspects of learning and teaching are capstones for my teaching philosophy.

We live in a society that desperately needs men and women who can think and reason in the spirit of love and hope.  Writing can unite us with words which celebrate our humanity as we try to overcome adversity and banish evil.  I live daily in this hope.