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| Patricia Graham, who started pursuing higher education more than a decade ago at Southwestern Community College, recently earned her doctorate from Capella University. Dr. Graham is an adjunct instructor in educational opportunities at SCC. |
Sixteen years ago, Patricia Graham first arrived at Southwestern Community College with doubts, dyslexia and a desire for a better life.
“I had very low self-esteem,” she recalled recently. “I was 41 at the time. I’d just gotten out of a bad marriage, and my confidence level was low. I couldn’t read very well, and I had trouble writing.”
Developmental instructors at SCC had a very different perspective on Graham’s situation. What she considered weaknesses, her instructors viewed as potential. They helped her identify multiple types of learning disorders, including dyslexia and adult ADHD, and equipped her with alternative learning methods.
She eventually graduated with three academic credentials from SCC in 2005 then earned bachelor’s degrees in English literature and Spanish from Western Carolina (2010) before getting her master’s in linguistics from WCU in 2013. Earlier this year, she completed her Ph.D. in educational leadership and management from Capella University.
“My future was a lot brighter than I thought when I first came to Southwestern,” said Graham, a Whittier resident who graduated Summa Cum Laude from SCC and Magna Cum Laude from WCU.
Throughout her educational journey, she never forgot the college and teachers who changed her outlook on education and life.
She now teaches English as a Second Language through SCC’s educational opportunities department, and she uses her life story to inspire any students who carry the same baggage as she once lugged around.
“If I see someone who’s struggling, I let them know I walked that road before – and that I know what they’re going through,” Dr. Graham said. “I want them to understand they can succeed too.”
Even her doctoral research was centered around overcoming negative ethnocentrism, which is how belief systems can impact learning.
Consequently her classroom approach is all about helping students overcome whatever challenges they face.
“I have a community of learners, not a classroom of students,” she said. “I learn as much from them as they do from me.”
By all accounts, her teaching style is quite effective.
“Dr. Graham has the ability to fully engage her students,” said Kay Wolf, educational opportunities coordinator at SCC. “They are learning English at an incredible speed and many are progressing on to certificate programs at SCC.
“One of her teaching methods is to involve the students with our community, such as when they visited Skyland Care Center in Sylva,” Wolf added. “The students hand-made Christmas cards, bought and wrapped presents for the residents and sang carols to them during their visit. Not only did the students learn to sing in English, they learned about American customs and traditions.”
More than a decade after SCC first changed her life, Graham is now doing the same for a new generation of college students.
“I love SCC,” Graham said. “The people here have always been like a family to me. When I was hired, I told Kay Wolf I’d come home. When I first came here, I had ideas, but education molded me into who I was supposed to be. Now I have an opportunity to give back what this college has given me.”
For more information about the Educational Opportunities department at SCC, visit www.southwesterncc.edu/educational-opportunities or contact Kay Wolf (k_wolf@southwesterncc.edu or 828.339.4262) Se habla español.
