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I graduated magna cum laude from San Diego State with a History degree. My best professor, however was at a community college. It was an English class. Her name was Janet. I don’t even remember her last name because she insisted we call her Janet.
She was a former Black Panther and still rocked an afro. She taught us about all sorts of things, including the unjust nature of the death penalty, mass incarceration, and the patriarchy. There was a small group of white male students who didn’t like what she was teaching us.
They would squirm in the desks and roll their eyes when she was blessing us with her wisdom about the patriarchy. One day one of them finally had enough and blurted out, rather angrily, “What does this have to do with English?”
Janet sat there, sitting on top of her desk as she always did, her unshaved legs swinging from under her long skirt, and she responded with a sly smile and, completely unbothered, said, “I’m teaching you critical thinking.” She then turned her gaze to the rest of us and continued
Anyone who believes that community colleges are strictly for “the dumb kids,” or that the professors that teach there are not as brilliant and qualified as professors at four-year institutions are woefully ignorant of what community colleges are all about.
There are any number of reasons why people attend and teach at the community college level. None of them, however, have anything to do with a deficiency in intellect or ability. I wouldn’t trade my experiences at the community college for any other educational experience.
We know why CCs are under attack from certain people today. But for the people that work there and attend classes there, you’re rockstars. Keep grinding. You’re making a world of difference. Thank you to all the CC professors for encouraging me, believing in me, and teaching me.
