Tips for doing spring term right.

Professor tips for doing Spring term right

              With cherry blossoms filling tress and the sun coming out, spring is here. So what does this mean? Spring cleaning? Three months to summer? Yes and yes, but the more important thing is spring term at LBCC. The last term in the year for some, graduation for others. So, I went and talked to a few different teachers and asked them the simple question, “What would you like students to do next term?” The answers I got back were surprisingly similar in every way, so here are the three things that popped up.

Rick Klampe: Agricultural Professor

              When I asked Rick what he hopes students would do next term, he rattled off multiple things that I feel like most students are quit guilty of (including me). The main thing he wants however is for students to show up to class regularly and communicate with your instructors more often. “Students will come in on week nine and ask if there is anything they can do to the pass the class, and all I want to say is ‘Ya, if you showed up the past three weeks or told me why you weren’t in class then maybe.”

 Mark Urista: Communications Professor

              With Mark Urista, the one important thing he wishes students would do is realize that every class has its place, and you should make the best of it. Sure, a prerequisite may be in the way before you can take that one class you so desire, but you shouldn’t dislike that class because you had to take it.  Instead you should do what Mark says and “Recognize that every course provides challenges that will help you grow.”

Karelia Stetz-Waters: English Professor

              When asking Karelia what it is she would like her students to do, she simply replied “I want to see my students start their work early.” In other words, don’t procrastinate. Waiting till the last possible minute to do all your work is the worst thing you could possibly do in anything, ever. So when you get handed an assignment, work on it that night, get it done then relax.

              There you have it, not procrastinating, making the best of a situation, and communication are things your professors want to see you start doing more of.

Karelia Stetz-Waters: English, Books, and Writing



Photo by Paul Hawkwood

A bright lit room filled with the faint smell of artificial banana. A handful of students rummaging through their belongings to get out the days materials and wait for their teacher to arrive. Once she does, the class sits up and listens to every word she has to say, patiently waiting for the instructions they are bound to be given, and to start the afternoon. When everything gets started, one student asks about the due date for an assignment and how the recent weather has messed with things. When they get their answer, half the class breathes a sigh of relief and relaxes a little.

              This is the classroom of Karelia Stetz-Waters’ writing 121 class. One of the many English focused classes she teaches. It is a medium sized class filled with people who are active and like to be a part of the discussion and enjoy the person who is teaching them. It’s not very often that you sit in a classroom and notice that everyone actually enjoys being there, but somehow Karelia has done it.   

              Karelia Stetz-Waters loves English, so it’s not very surprising to find out that she is Chair of the English Department and teaches tech writing and writing 121. She is a third generation teacher in her family, the first being her grandmother and the next her father, and has always taught writing.

              When she started teaching, it was at the University of Oregon and it was mainly writing 121 that she taught. In the 11 years since, she has always been teaching at the college level and has loved every moment of it. Besides teaching, she is also an active member of the ROV club and the Open-Source group.

When asked what she’s most proud of and loves to do, Karelia answered that she loves helping students and also said “I like being useful anywhere I can, and help whoever I can”. Along with this, she also said that she loves to write, and was very proud that she has a book published (The Admirer) and another coming this fall (Forgive Me If I’ve Told You This Before).