Sept. 9, 2008 issue

My love for Eastern began as a graduate student in the creative writing program. The faculty recognized my work and allowed me to balance my life as a writer and as a mother with small children. EMU has a strong ability to recognize both academics and life beyond academics. An individual can excel here while working full time and/or raising a family.

After I graduated from the program, I started teaching as an adjunct professor in the English department. There are so many brilliant students at Eastern that come from different backgrounds and sometimes they don't know how capable they are. I try to create a family atmosphere in my classroom to provide my students with "the ticket."

Growing up in a factory town in Pennsylvania, attending college was not an expectation. That changed when I attended a community college and excelled. I was given "a ticket to get on the train" and became something, and that is what I try to give my students. I tell them that I have the ticket. They just have to jump on, and most of them do.

This fall, I am looking forward to teaching the Asian American Literature class that I designed with Andrea Kaston Tange, an associate professor in the English department. The creation of this course is important because of the increasingly wide international culture. Personally, I have an interest because my three adoptive children are from Vietnam, India and Korea.

I plan to remain at EMU for the foreseeable future. I care very deeply for my students and I value EMU's focus on the greatness of teaching. We have an open campus that says, "Come on in and we can be great together." — Contributed by Krystin Jarrell

 

---