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 who 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 get on it.
This issue we talked to Chemistry instructor Tatiana Popa about student attendance, cruciferous vegetables, and her fishing philosophies.
1. What do you teach and how long have you been at Camosun?
I started teaching at Camosun in January 2016. I taught lectures and labs for Chem 100: Introductory Chemistry, Chem 110: General College Chemistry 1, and Chem 120: College Chemistry 1.
2. What do you personally get out of teaching?
There is a proverb: “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” I want to believe that my teaching empowers and motivates students by providing them with the knowledge and experience of “how to fish.”
3. What’s one thing you wish your students knew about you?
That I genuinely care about each of my students, and I want them all to learn and to do well in school.
4. What’s one thing you wish they didn’t know about you?
That English is not my first language, and that I am constantly learning new words. Occasionally, my students are the ones who are teaching me new words. We are learning from each other.
5. What’s the best thing that’s happened to you as a teacher here?
I am so happy that I joined the Camosun community. The atmosphere, the colleagues, and the students are great here. One of the things, along with many others, that I particularly enjoy here is the small-sized classes. I am able to create deeper connections with my students, consider their ongoing feedback, and actively engage them in the learning process.
6. What’s the worst thing that’s happened to you as a teacher here?
Poor attendance; I once had only four students in my class. I understand that most of my students have a job, and it happens that they can’t always make it to class, but I wish they would understand that coming to class is necessary in order to do well in the course. They should plan ahead before registering for the course and find a balance between work commitments, school, and free time.
7. What do you see in the future of post-secondary education?
I see many online courses. They are becoming more popular, and they are great. I have taken online courses, and I am grateful they exist, but I prefer face-to-face courses as a student and as a teacher. I hope students at least try them both and decide for themselves.
8. What do you do to relax on the weekends?
I enjoy Zumba and yoga. Zumba, it’s more for fun, and yoga for my well-being; both keep me happy and, hopefully, healthy. I also read or listen to audiobooks on the weekends, go for hikes, and see my friends whenever I can.
9. What is your favourite meal?
I have many favourite meals; one of them is my broccoli sprouts salad. Among cruciferous vegetables, broccoli sprouts contain the highest concentration of this molecule called sulforaphane, which has beneficial effects on cancer, aging, the brain… to name a few. I sprout them, which is a very easy and a fun process, and then I add them to my delicious salad, along with seeds, nuts, avocado, and other veggies.
10. What’s your biggest pet peeve?
When people overgeneralize using stereotypes. One example would be that women have a lower mathematical ability. I am a woman, and math was always my favourite. Girls are discouraged when they are constantly told that they can’t do math. Girls, you surely can!