A Day in the Life of an Adjunct College Teacher

This is the Administrative building on campus, atop a set of stairs they call the Aztec Steps.

Yesterday I gave a midterm to both sections of my class.

We have one class in an Occupational Education (OE) Building, where they have a firefighters academy. Each class leaves a remembrance of themselves behind with a hand-done plaque. This is one of them.

I have office hours in their conference room. Last week the Chief and two of his instructors were there eating burritos from a local joint (Rosie's) and discussing the merits of using Powerpoint in their teaching--especially good for showing slides of burning buildings and burn victims. It was more interesting to listen to them than to concentrate on the grading of my English quizzes. Here's their gear in the garage adjacent to our hallway.

In the other OE building on the other side they teach the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) class. Everyone in OE has a uniform of some kind. A friend who used to teach MCAT classes said that after working with some of those who were determined to get into medical school, she wanted to tattoo on her arm a list of people who were not allowed to touch her. I saw two of my former students here last week (who'd flunked my English class) applying to be EMTs. I'm glad I was nice to them, so that when I need an ambulance, hopefully they won't bang the gurney when loading me up.

This view of the Yucaipa valley is from the back of our building. We're sited just north of the 10 freeway, off of Yucaipa Boulevard. Yucaipa, a more rural SoCal community with fruit stands and original adobe houses, is trying to stave off the spread of strip malls and unplanned growth. The mountains of the high desert are north of the school so we get more thunderstorms and summer rainshowers than does Riverside. This area also gets more forest fires, because of lightning strikes.

From the road below, our college is barely visible. The building on the right is the roof line of the Administration building. The blocky concrete building (our whole campus is blocky concrete buildings) is the backside of the Drama/Theater Arts. On the left is is the roof line of the Library. The campus was built in the early 1970s, with the library dedicated the year I graduated from high school (1972).