Know Your Profs is an ongoing series of articles helping you get to know the instructors at Camosun College a bit better. Every issue we ask a different instructor the same 10 questions.
Got someone you want to see interviewed? Email editor@nexusnewspaper.com and we’ll get on it.
This time around we caught up with business instructor Catherine Mack and talked about watching students grow, embarrassing dog hair, and winging it for a sick colleague.
1: What do you teach and how long have you been a teacher at Camosun?
I teach business courses, particularly entrepreneurship, business planning, business communications, and retail merchandising. I’ve been a teacher at Camosun for almost 14 years.
2: What do you personally get out of teaching?
I really enjoy the opportunity to be involved with students’ learning. Students constantly amaze me with their energy and their desire to learn and apply their knowledge to improve not only their own lives, but also the community they are part of. It is so rewarding to watch a student progress through his or her program gaining confidence as well as knowledge and skills.
3: What’s one thing you wish your students knew about you?
I wish my students knew as a student I was always very nervous before writing an exam. It didn’t matter how prepared I was, how well I might have done on the previous exam, or how many “writing exam preparation” seminars I participated in.
4: What’s one thing you wish they didn’t know about you?
I wish they didn’t know I let my dog sit on the seats in my car. I gave a ride to a few students one day and there was blond dog hair all over my black cloth seats; it was such a mess. I was so embarrassed!
5: What’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you as a teacher here?
When a student is the successful candidate for a job I provided the contact or the recommendation for; or a student tells me years after graduating that they are still using the skills from my class every day at work; or a student has a great co-op or field school experience and they tell me all about it; or when a student says, “Oh, I get it now,” when they have been struggling with some financial statement or such. And it’s always a wonderful moment when I get to meet a student’s very proud family at grad.
6: What’s the worst thing that’s happened to you as a teacher here?
Having a colleague suddenly become gravely ill in the middle of a term. While being very concerned for him and his family, another colleague and I stepped in to his classes and had to be strong for his very upset students, while delivering a meaningful experience in courses we had never taught. At the time we also had our own regular classes.
7: What do you see in the future of postsecondary education?
Students will need current knowledge and skills in a rapidly changing world. They will continue to need to have the ability to be critical thinkers and excellent communicators. An intercultural perspective will be extremely important. Students will be life-long learners and postsecondary education will need to offer easy entry back in for further studies. There will need to be more innovative delivery models for programs.
8: What do you do to relax on the weekends?
I spend time with family and friends and get outside with my dog.
9: What’s your favourite meal?
Homemade pasta with fresh tomatoes, a little olive oil, and basil.
10: What’s your biggest pet peeve?
I find it difficult to understand colleagues who think that classes should be scheduled when they want to teach rather than when it is the most convenient for students to attend.