Know Your Profs is an ongoing series of profiles on the instructors at Camosun College. Every issue we ask a different instructor at Camosun the same 10 questions in an attempt to get to know them a little better.
Do you have an instructor that you want to see interviewed in the paper? Maybe you want to know more about one of your teachers, but you’re too busy, or shy, to ask? Email editor@nexusnewspaper.com and we’ll add your instructor to our list of teachers to talk to.
This issue we talked to Camosun geography instructor Hilary Sandford about anonymous marking, swearing with intensity, and giving the slitty-eyes.
1: What do you teach and how long have you been a teacher at Camosun?
I teach geography and have for over 20 years. I now split my time between teaching and working as Camosun’s sustainability developer, a position that allows me to put theory into action.
2: What do you personally get out of teaching?
I’ll have to order the side of cheese with this one because I get hope for the future. Every one of the approximately 100 interesting people I teach each term makes me remember the amazing potential in all of us.
3: What’s one thing you wish your students knew about you?
That I don’t remember their marks! Students will often look at me a bit sheepishly after a test, like things are different now because they bombed something. But I don’t mark with names showing, so, no judgment.
4: What’s one thing you wish they didn’t know about you?
I swear with flourish, intensity, depth, and conviction in most any conversation outside the professional realm. I hope they don’t find that out in the classroom.
5: What’s the best thing that’s happened to you as a teacher here?
Well, it tends to happen every day, which is probably why I’m still here: sharing a laugh with someone about something stupid or shocking or brilliant or crass. I love that students still find things funny.
6: What’s the worst thing that’s happened to you as a teacher here?
Well, getting two flat tires as I drove to Carmannah with a class of students in the van was pretty epic, considering I was carrying only one spare.
7: What do you see in the future of postsecondary education?
I’m the worst at seeing the future. I can never even see what’s going to happen at the end of a movie. But I hope to be pleasantly surprised and see society show postsecondary education some love with increased revenues and decreased student debt.
8: What do you do to relax on the weekends?
Swim in lakes. Walk my dog. Cook and bake. Grow veggies. Start revolutions. You know.
9: What is your favourite meal?
Well, my birthday is this week, so this is on my mind. I’m going to ask for homemade chile rellenos with all the usual fixin’s and a New York cheesecake. Yes, I am.
10: What’s your biggest pet peeve?
My eyes will roll back and I’ll foam at the mouth if there is repetitive noise in a quiet room. Like, someone who taps a pen during an exam? I’m tempted to either fail them or kill them. Usually I just give them the slitty-eyes and they stop.