Helena Kobylarz
To Whom It May Concern,
Hello fellow Del Mar students. I wanted to write an editorial on my experience at Del Mar College. I have a different background than the majority of Del Mar students. You see, I am almost 60 years old. My husband is a disabled veteran who is no longer able to work, so I decided to return to college almost 40 years after my first college experience. I know, most of you weren’t even born then, which is probably more shocking for me than for you.
The most important thing I have learned at Del Mar is that teachers do make a difference! Professor Morin and Professor Kramer are two teachers that are incredibly phenomenal. Although their methodology is different, they are both caring teachers and go out of their way to help all their students get high grades. Professor Morin and Professor Kramer both have developed teaching skills that I aspire to utilize and share. I don’t have enough words to express my gratitude to these two professors or sufficient praise, they are truly amazing.
There are others at Del Mar that exceed expectations, Patricia Benavides-Dominguez, Interim Dean of Student Outreach and Enrollment Services, Dr. Patricia Walter, Mandi Overby, Raquel Almodovar, Veronica Barbosa, Eva Goodman and Ruby Martinez. These people have all gone out of their way and been of great assistance to me in my quest.
It has been a very interesting experience returning to college after all these years. A lot of things have changed. A lot of things haven’t. Technology is definitely the biggest change. Can you imagine everyone having paper records for registration, class enrollment, financial aid, etc.? Believe me, it made things much more time consuming. When it comes to actually taking your classes, I’ll just say one word: “Internet.” Something a lot of you have grown up with as a source of information did not exist 40 years ago. That means class work was actually done from a textbook. Research was done manually through reference books at the library. There was no emailing classmates for explanations, no using your Google-fu to have something explained. Of course, it wasn’t all more difficult. Students actually talked with each other. No one walked into traffic or a door because they had their head stuck in their phone. Yes, I’ve seen both of these happen on campus.
The main thing that hasn’t changed is the people. Most of my classmates may be younger than me, but once we get talking, we’re still all just people. Our reasons for going to college may be different, but all of our visions picture a different and better future for ourselves. We all have happiness, sorrow, joy, and pain. We all dream.
There is great staff here at Del Mar. Lucy James, made sure I got registered, she is an outstanding, teacher and lady. I would like to also thank Dr. Marcus Myers and Professor Doug Jordan, whether they know it or not both have influenced me considerably, even at 60. Therefore, I am a living example that you can teach old dogs new tricks.
Thank you Del Mar!
