My October 2, 2016 posting, “Communication Lab Benefits both Tutor and Students,” detailed the steps that led to my becoming a tutor in Columbus State Community College’s Communication Center. Managed by the College’s Communication Department (later the Department of Languages and Communication), the Comm Center allowed me to use my public speaking skills to help prepare students to deliver graded speeches. That October 2 posting gave a thorough description of how the Comm Center operated and how my work there benefited me as well as the students. What that posting didn’t do is discuss all the marvelous growth opportunities I had at Columbus State outside of the Comm Center.  Now, as I retire from the college, I feel the best way to say farewell is to highlight three other enriching experiences I had there. (There were more than three, but I’ll stick to that number to keep things manageable.)

First, after tutoring in fall quarter of 2000, I was offered the chance to teach my own classes as an adjunct instructor.  My first teaching assignment in January 2001 was a group discussion class at the college’s Dublin branch.  I recall driving through snow and going up and down different roads (no GPS back then) before finally finding the college’s building nestled next to a preschool.  I walked into the classroom barely a minute before the scheduled start time.

In the years that followed, I taught a few more group discussion courses, but more often public speaking. The ability and interest of my students varied greatly. Some were there because the degree they were pursuing required it. Others enrolled out of a desire to gain more confidence and/or a skill that enhanced their job market prospects.  Between 2001 and 2014 (my last year teaching a class), I heard hundreds of speeches on every topic from STDs to St. Petersburg; from soccer to unsolved crimes; from healthy foods to hunting. Almost invariably, the best speeches were the commemorative ones. It always tugged on my heart to hear a student pay tribute to a parent, a grandparent, a teacher, or friend who had inspired or guided them through difficult times.

Second, Columbus State gave me the opportunity to be involved with their annual writers conferences. These conferences began in 2001. They included a keynote speaker as well as small-group workshops with a focus on a particular type of writing (poetry, fiction, screenwriting, etc.)  Outside the classrooms where the workshops were held, booksellers could market their writings and writers’ groups could seek new members. My own GEM-C Writers had a table at three conferences, and we always pulled in at least one new member from the participants.

Before helping to manage the GEM-C table, I performed other duties at the conferences. Sometimes I introduced a workshop presenter, sometimes before the conference I put up flyers publicizing it, and sometimes I helped with registering participants. One year, serving as field manager, I made sure conference presenters received their honorarium checks; another year, a local librarian and I presented a small-group workshop of our own, focusing on different types of writers groups and the benefits of each  Like so many other events, Columbus State’s annual writers conference fell prey to the COVID crisis. No conference was held in 2020. I didn’t think there was one in 2021 either, although I later heard it was all done online.  Attending future writers conferences (even virtual ones) would be a good way for me to stay in contact with at least some of my colleagues.

In 2006, due to a labor dispute, the writers conference wasn’t held.  Karen D’Arbanville, a fellow adjunct, and I tried to organize a scaled-back one-day conference. We did our best to find presenters, but in the end, it just didn’t work out. But with the groundwork we laid for the scaled-back conference, Karen came up with an aternative. Let’s have a visiting authors program and invite the writers we hoped to have at the conference to present individual two-hour workshops – one workshop per month.  I liked the idea, so Karen wrote a grant proposal for the program, which the college approved.  Thereafter, with Karen handling the logistics and me connecting with the writers, our visiting authors program moved ahead.  In its first year, we brought in noted children’s author Dandi Daley Mackall, fiction instructor Michael Wilson, and Pulitzer Prize-nominee Lee Martin among others. Attendance varied from 15 to nearly 40, with 21 being about average. The program returned the following year with fewer authors but with the same level of attendance. There might have been at least one more year for this program, but Karen’s deteriorating health worked against that goal. She died in January 2008.

Finally, my farewell would be incomplete if I didn’t mention the significant impact my students had on me. They represented all races, creeds, and colors. They came from places as far away as China and as close as Worthington. Many had jobs that made it challenging to get to class; many came doubting they could succeed. Some had been homeless or in prison. Four, in particular, inspired me with their determination and courage:

• The young man with cerebral palsy who had to be propped up in his wheelchair by his parents — but who still gave excellent speeches
• The mother from Tanzania who spent time in a refugee camp caring for her children
• The shy student who’d been told by her family she wouldn’t succeed in college — and proved them wrong by earning an A in my class.
• The young woman from Ecuador who’d been seriously disabled by a car accident, cheerfully coming to every class and taking notes on her assistive technology device.

Despite the pain I feel in leaving, I know it’s the right decision. My health issues and those of my grandson Cole played a big part in that decision.  So, too. did my frustration with the technology of conducting tutoring sessions online.  But even as I say farewell to Columbus State, I know the enrichment, experience, and growth I gained there will remain with me for the rest of my life.