I can't believe I am beginning my eighth year of teaching full time at Skyline College.  I am still in awe when I walk across the campus.   To think that I am being paid to do what I love is a blessing that too few will experience in this life. 

Like many students today, I struggled to receive my education.  In 1969, when I applied to the City University of New York I was denied.  My high school average wasn't good enough and there wasn't an open admissions policy.   In 1972, when CUNY offered a college education to anyone who was willing, I took the plunge.  I was the first in my family to attend college.  There was little emotional support as my mom felt I wasn't college material and told me so.  I worked full time during my undergraduate and graduate years.  Going to college was the best thing I ever did for myself.  The intellectual stimulation was overwhelming.   In 1978 I was lucky enough to get a job as an administrative assistant at New York University.  Along with the job came free tuition!  Moreover, working and going to graduate school at NYU was like working at the United Nations - I meet so many different people and became exposed to different cultures and political philosophies.  When I graduated with a Masters in History in 1980, my mother was beaming and...apologized!

My educational philosophy is simple: education should help prepare an individual for inclusion into the community.  What does this mean to me?

- a person should be responsible and respectful of others even if they do not agree with them. 

- a person should be responsible for their own actions and the consequences of those actions.

-a person should be able to make sound moral and ethical judgements.

-a person should have a sense of social justice.

- a person should learn how to think critically and analyze information rather than just being "told" something is true or false.

-hopefully, a person should think of education as a key to a bright future and I do not mean just in financial terms.

I bring this philosophy into the classroom and into every interaction I have with my fellow citizens.  I take education very seriously and I try to instill this in my students. 

As you begin your educational journey keep your mind and heart open to new ideas, people, and challenges. I do not think you will be disappointed.

Rosemary Bell