When I am not sitting in my office eating bon-bons, or attending District discussions, or standing in the lobby greeting our students, I sometimes get to attend really cool meetings. The most recent event was a roundtable with Second Lady of the United States Dr. Jill Biden, who among other accomplishments has been involved in higher ed for over thirty years and a community college faculty member for eighteen years.
Dr. Biden wanted to learn more about CCC’s College to Careers initiative. The District folks pulled together a great panel of business partners, students and CCC folks to discuss what we are doing.
The star of the show, in my humble opinion, was Michele Miller. Ms. Miller is an HWC alum who received her degree this past spring. She also qualified and earned a job with Allscripts through their partnership with City Colleges. When it was her turn to talk about her experience, Ms. Miller called her time at HWC ‘magical.’ She talked about the faculty, staff and services that had done so much to help her through school and help her graduate. She kept telling Dr. Biden how wonderful Harold Washington College had been for her. Fully aware that pride cometh before the fall, I still could not help feeling proud for our College.
I talked to Ms. Miller offline asked her which faculty had made the biggest contributions to her success. She said Dr. Farah Movahedzadeh, Professor Sonu Varghese, Professor Octavian Stinga, and Professor Jeffrey Daniels had been wonderful teachers and guides to her. She also mentioned the great staff who played a role in supporting here.
Thanks to the professors who made such a great impact on Ms. Miller, and for their efforts with all our students. Their efforts were rewarded by one of our students telling the Second Lady how what you did changed her life. Congratulations.
Don's Desk 