Know Your Profs is an ongoing series of articles helping you get to know the instructors at Camosun College a bit better. Every issue we ask a different instructor the same 10 questions. Got someone you want to see interviewed? Email editor@nexusnewspaper.com and we’ll get on it.
This time around we caught up with English instructor Laurie Elmquist and talked about her spelling skills, the upside of online classes, and keeping peeves as pets.
1: What do you teach and how long have you been a teacher at Camosun?
I teach creative writing and academic writing. I’ve been teaching at the college for 19 years.
2: What do you personally get out of teaching?
I like being with students. They are so hopeful about the future and hardworking. I like reading their stories and looking at the comics and novels they are writing.
3: What’s one thing you wish your students knew about you?
I am getting a new puppy this fall and am slightly distracted by all the things that have to do with raising a responsible Jack Russell.
4: What’s one thing you wish they didn’t know about you?
I’m a terrible speller. When I make notes on the board, the students have to help me with my spelling. It’s kind of embarrassing as a writer.
5: What’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you as a teacher here?
Being on the ground floor of the new Comics and Graphic Novels program was so exciting. I remember when the dean tapped me on the shoulder in the hall. He thought that creative writing and comics would be good together. Later, [Camosun prof] Ken Steacy designed the program, the first of its kind to combine creative writing classes and visual storytelling classes.
6: What’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to you as a teacher here?
Oh dear, do people really answer this question? The first thing that comes to mind is losing a colleague to cancer. It was years ago, but she was very special to me. Her name was Leslie [Ashcroft, Camosun English prof], and she was my mentor. She was the person who plucked me out of the Writing Centre and said, “Go talk to the Chair of English and apply for a job.”
7: What do you see in the future of postsecondary education?
With fingers crossed, I hope to see the development of more online classes. I am a huge advocate for this form of delivery, and I lament that people still know so little about its benefits. I took an online course this summer from Brock University that enriched my understanding of online education. This fall I’m teaching two online creative writing courses, and I’m employing some of the ideas. I want students to know that online learning is dynamic and rigorous. There are deadlines just as if you were sitting in a classroom, and also lots of laughter and fun. Friendships are formed with other writers. Novels get written. It’s terribly exciting from my perspective as someone who designs the courses and teaches them.
8: What do you do to relax on the weekends?
My husband and I just bought a 1999 Roadtrek, and we hope to roar around the island stopping at campsites and beaches.
9: What’s your favourite meal?
Fish tacos and a Corona with lime and salt.
10: What’s your biggest pet peeve?
I never really understood the pet peeve. Why would you want to hang onto a peeve and make a pet of it? It seems like an uncomfortable thing to do.