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Making dreams come true. That's what we do at Waubonsee Community College. Many students come here looking for an education that will lead to a satisfying career. Others come for college credit they can transfer to a four-year college or university. Still others come to develop a specific job skill, to improve their ability to speak and write the English language, to continue the process of lifelong learning, or simply to obtain help in deciding their future path. By offering classes that meet a wide variety of learner needs, Waubonsee is helping community members fulfill their educational and career dreams.

While students at Waubonsee Community College and elsewhere are busy worrying about fitting in, finding just the right classes or finishing homework on time, there’s another group paying attention to an entirely different set of priorities. For the most part, the work of this group remains invisible to students, but, when done well, it ensures that success at school is all students need to be thinking about.

Waubonsee Community College is about to start the fourth year of a five-year National Science Foundation (NSF) funded STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) scholarship grant. Disciplines include biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering science, physics, mathematics and the geosciences (earth science, geology, oceanography, astronomy, meteorology and geography). Scholarship recipients are recruited from local high schools and from among current Waubonsee students. New and returning STEM scholars form a learning community nurtured by 12 faculty mentors and counselors. Selection criteria include high grades in STEM courses, high overall grade point average, recommendations from faculty and personal essays. 

The American anthropologist Ruth Benedict wrote that “we grow in time to trust the future for our answers,” and nowhere is the truth of those words more apparent than in the dynamic field of higher education. As an institution that demands quality, relevancy and value for its students, Waubonsee Community College faces strategically forward, courts innovation, keeps its finger firmly on the pulse of the community, and embraces change. In my 28 years of employment in at least six different roles at Waubonsee, I, too, focused my vision on the future and welcomed the progress that is the lifeblood of the college.

For many teenagers, college after high school is as routine as checking Facebook. This idea of who a college student is and what they experience has become so generalized in our society that, unless you are in the educational environment, your definition of a college student’s life may already be set. For many, that definition is limited to a list of words such as: four years, dorms, bachelor’s degree, parties and so on. The orthodoxy behind these assumptions has even gone as far as labeling college students as being either a “traditional” or a “nontraditional” student. However, for many other students, this perception of the “four-year university” is a distant dream that may be unattainable for a variety of circumstances. I was once one of those students.

The research is clear — children who are curious and explore the world around them fare better at school and relationships, and ultimately, are more successful in life. Yet, as children go through life it’s easy for their curiosity to be stunted. A regimented school day, schedules, tests and grades all have a way of limiting a child’s natural curiosity.

Does the thought of taking a math test, or even worse, doing a problem at the board in front of the class give you sweaty palms, tunnel vision and make your heart feel as if it’s about to leap out of your chest? If so, then you might have math anxiety. If you have the same feelings of impending doom on tests in other subjects, then you may also have test anxiety. The good news is that both of these common barriers can be overcome.

It wasn’t long ago that we were suspicious of purchasing products and services from a business without a national brand. We would hesitate to enter our credit card information for an Internet purchase. 

You love your smartphone, always have the latest device and check Twitter before you grab your coffee in the morning. Or perhaps you recently purchased your first smartphone and are getting used to all the computing power you’re carrying around. 

Welcome to Waubonsee Community College’s new monthly column in the Kane County Chronicle. Each month, a member of our faculty, staff or student body will author a column highlighting the work of the college and its impact on our community.