FROM DECK PLATES TO THE CLASSROOM: HOW I TRANSITIONS FROM A MILITARY LEADER TO A COLLEGIATE PROFESSOR

Currently I serve as an Adjunct Professor at Indian River State College helping Adult High School and GED students earn their diplomas. So how did I get here, had a little detour? I worked as an insurance agent for two years after exiting the military in 2012. I enjoyed helping the families but sales were not my love. Money has never and will never be a carrot for me so I did ok but something was missing. I wanted to teach but didn’t know where to start. I really didn’t want to teach high school but applied for an instructor position at the college. I was hired after the interview and spent the better part of three months conducting in-take interviews, which I love. Helping people, some of whom feel they are beyond help is very rewarding for me. Then the call came I was back in the classroom again, teaching reading, language and MATHEMATICS my expertise, I love it.

So how do you prepare, you must have a bachelor’s degree usually and experience to land one of these positions. I believe it’s more important you have great skills than advanced degrees when it comes to teaching. And you must care about and put the students first. My initial interview was to teach an academic topic to a panel of educators and though I was an experienced teacher I was a wreck. I produced many teaching topics over the years using PowerPoint so that was my weapon of choice. I decided to teach how to solve word problems; at the time I had been helping my son solve them. I basically conducted a little research and put together a timed presentation that taught a systematic way of completing word problems. The panel thoroughly enjoyed the topic because I included plenty of student interaction. I figured the best way to relax them and get them interested in the topic was to GET THEM INVOLVED. You should always have questions, surveys, sample problems, something to get input from your audience especially in an educational environment. Ask yourself, is this interesting or fun? If the answer is no keep working on it until it is. I didn’t only give them problems, I timed each exercise so they only had a minute to solve them, I’m not kidding. The rest is history and I’m not done yet, plan on starting an MS in Counseling Psychology at Palm Beach Atlantic University in the fall.

During my time in the United States Navy I served as an electronics technician, supervisor, communications instructor, recruit division commander, shipboard training assessor, materiel officer and a Chief Petty Officer. Mid career I started to focus on using the opportunity to enhance my education, completing my AS in electronic studies in 2005 and starting my BS in Electronic Systems Technology Management the same year. Though my plan was not to seek a technical position per se it was a means to an end.

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While I was stationed on my first ship I learned I enjoyed helping others, teaching and mentoring them. Though I was not a natural, I remember the first time I had to give a short topic on basic electronics I was terrified but I enjoyed the research and planning piece immensely. I’ve taught everything from shipboard fire fighting to drill and ceremony, I love to teach, instruct, inspect and improve productivity. Although I don’t plan on using my technical mind in an electronics plant I will use those same skills to teach the adult education students I help on a daily basis.

From DECK PLATES to the CLASSROOM

From Deck Plates to the Classroom: How I Transitioned from a Military Leader to a Collegiate Professor

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Mychal Massie - Why I Don't Like the Obamas.

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Does the Government Reflect the Will of the American People?

Does the American government of today reflect the will of the American people?

The ideals of the founding fathers are all but lost today; special-interest groups, lobbyists, big business, and corrupt government have made it impossible to live them out. We have lost our national identity and given up our rights to a more powerful government. This was not the intent of the Constitution from the beginning. The founding fathers wanted a limited government, peace and freedom to live as they chose. I believe the American government does not reflect the wishes of its constituents. This is true partly because the public does not hold elected officials responsible and because the silent majority is not active.

Government social programs and business bailouts have removed the foundation of our free enterprise system. Initiative and hard work are no longer required to succeed in our society. More importantly you can fail yourself to success because the government will eventually bail you out. This shortsighted approach has caused haphazard business plans to be implemented and an erosion of our normal business process. ObamaCare, corporate welfare and social programs are not the answer. What the useful idiots do not understand is someone will be paying for their handout.  We are the government!

The lack of national identity has robbed us of the unity which was displayed by the founding fathers. They didn’t all agree on exactly how the country should be structured, but they did understand they had to come to a final determination. Our lack of identity today has divided us into races, factions, and special interest groups and has robbed us of our community and ability to compromise. This is a sad situation and has caused gridlock in Congress, preventing the progress that so many politicians speak of but are unable to produce. If we just studied the long term effects of the decisions we are making our choices would be different. We would realize most of what we’re doing is bankrupting our future.

So how do we fix it?

I believe we must return to a more nationalistic approach, a focus on maintaining our freedoms and our economic system. These are concepts that made America great from the beginning allowing us to build such a great country in a short period of time. Many countries around the world want what we have but at the base of what we have are freedoms- freedom to choose, freedom to work, freedom to succeed, but also the freedom to fail. Big brother government has interfered and tried to prevent the negative consequences of bad decisions and in doing so have prevented a huge learning curve. Success is attained through failure and those who don’t fail are not really a success at all.

We must find a way to balance the budget and although I know the economic impact will be devastating, over time making the right choices we’ll be able to deliver a better fiscal situation for future generations. Putting our dollar back on a standard would also be instrumental. Limiting government agencies, the money spent in these pipelines is astronomical. The advent of the computer and high-technology should cause the government to be more efficient and smaller, we should be doing more with less which is not the case.

We also need to be more vocal in our voting and campaigning. The public must insist that elected officials do what’s best for the constituents. Understanding sometimes citizens don’t have the full picture, and the official must go against what constituents expect. For the most part elected officials should be doing what’s expected of them. And if they don’t they must be replaced.

We must require of ourselves the same integrity and good citizenship we expect from our elected officials. We want things done for us, even at the expense of others- a very shortsighted view. We must first educate ourselves understand the whole picture not just the small piece that were interested in and then make educated decisions on what’s best long-term. We the people will be one of the most important attributes that we need to flesh out in the future to maintain prominence in America.