Know Your Profs is an ongoing series of profiles on the instructors at Camosun College. Every issue we ask a different instructor at Camosun the same 10 questions in an attempt to get to know them a little better.
Do you have an instructor that you want to see interviewed in the paper? Maybe you want to know more about one of your teachers, but you’re too busy, or shy, to ask? Email editor@nexusnewspaper.com and we’ll get on it.
This issue we talked to Physics instructor Julie Alexander about renewable energy, restoring classic cars, and the joy of receiving good news from a former student.
1. What do you teach and how long have you been at Camosun?
I’ve been teaching at Camosun for 33 years. During this time I also taught courses in the Physics department at UVic and took some long-term professional development time away from teaching to complete a PhD in Climate Modelling. I currently teach physics to the Engineering Bridge students, biomechanics to the Athletic Therapy students, and a course on renewable energy to the Mechanical Technology students.
2. What do you personally get out of teaching?
It is very satisfying when I take challenging physics problems and break them into manageable steps that the students are able to follow and then apply to other problems. I also like being able to relate abstract physics concepts to concepts that the students already understand. I never get tired of the amazement students show when I use physics to explain everyday phenomena.
3. What’s one thing you wish your students knew about you?
I understand what it feels like to be frustrated when learning complex tasks. I am still struggling with learning how to play the violin and how to not fall in the water when rowing my single racing shell.
4. What is one thing you wish they didn’t know about you?
I don’t put a lot of effort into memorizing my students’ names.
5. What’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you as a teacher here?
The best thing that comes to mind is when a former Engineering Technology student came to tell me that following the advice I had given her about how to succeed as a student changed her life and enabled her to graduate and find a good job.
6. What’s the worst thing that’s happened to you as a teacher here?
I’ve been lucky that nothing terrible has ever happened to me over the 33 years I’ve been teaching at the college. However, yesterday I discovered that my office has mice running around in it at night. The chocolate I left in my desk drawer was half eaten and there were mouse droppings all over my desk.
7. What do you see in the future of post-secondary education?
I think that science students have the best chance of success if they complete their first year of a four-year university degree at Camosun. I think the university engineering programs that require the students to do co-op work terms are excellent and will continue to train highly employable engineers.
8. What do you do to relax on the weekends?
I’m not very good at relaxing. I go rowing on Elk Lake early Saturday and Sunday mornings. I also spend time on the weekends practicing my violin and gardening. My husband and I are restoring a 1958 Morris Minor car, so that takes up the rest of my spare time.
9. What’s your favourite meal?
Every Friday night we go to my 94-year-old mother’s house and barbecue steaks.
10. What is your biggest pet peeve?
I don’t like to hear my Athletic Therapy students say that they are bad at math. I think this is often a result of someone telling them at a very young age that math is hard and that they will never be good at it. I’ve never had a student who truly couldn’t do math. Another pet peeve is that the Engineering Bridge students have to write six final exams in six consecutive days, when students at UVic have two and half weeks to write their exams.