The Other End of the Screen

We have many great teachers at LBCC. I had the opportunity to interview one of these great teachers, Mr. Urista, over email. Mr. U has been a teacher at LBCC for about 11 years and teaches many classes in the communications field. At the beginning of 1st term, I took his Comm 111 class and enjoyed it greatly. When I decided I wanted to learn about the teacher's view of the pandemic he was the first person who came to mind. His answers to my questions helped me understand what Covid was like for our professors and the unique struggles they deal with.

For many people that was the word they would use to describe the pandemic, struggle. When I asked Mr. U if he had a word that described his experience with Covid he said “disconnected”. We all had a different experience with covid, but most of us did not enjoy the last two years. For many students school was part of that negative experience. The lack of communication from both sides led to some confusing school years and made many students bitter. I want to help dispel some of the hate our teachers got over what happened in online school by showing teachers, like Mr. U, also had a really hard time.

Before the lockdown, Mr. U was still working at LBCC as a communications teacher. He made his way there 11 years ago from El Camino College and before that worked at several other community colleges. Mr. U says the reason he is in this profession is because he enjoys giving people the same positive experience he had in community college, he loves the connections with students and finds the subjects he teaches to be “engaging and practical”. These subjects include Public Speaking, Argumentation & Critical Discourse, and Interpersonal Communication. He still teaches those subjects, but much else has changed in the last two years about his teaching style. His life, like all of ours, changed when Covid made its way into the United States.

When we switched to online it was jarring and draining for all of us. Students had to change how they engaged in school and teachers had to change how they teached. Mr. U is one of the teachers who had to learn about computers pretty much on the job and doesn’t consider himself super skilled in that area. When I asked what he struggled with as a teacher, he said “Teaching classes online has been a struggle for me.  I feel comfortable developing curriculum and delivering content.  However, I’m still trying to figure out how to form relationships and create an engaging learning experience asynchronously.” The lack of connection he is talking about was something I experienced as a student as well. When you don’t have a relationship with your teacher and the only interactions are through a screen, it is hard for many to invest their time into online learning. Finding out that Mr. U had the same feelings about it made me sympathize with all the teachers out there who taught during Covid.

Our teachers didn’t only go through online school with us, they also had to deal with the other effects we all dealt with of the pandemic. All of our lives were simplified without our consent and we were forced to drastically tighten our social circles. Mr. U spent most of the pandemic “Sitting in front of a computer while caring for a newborn and supporting my wife.” Another ripple of covid was the lack of workers and cash flow. This permanently changed many communities and Mr. U’s was no different. When I asked if there was a small business he missed that didn’t survive Covid, he said “Al Jebal restaurant.  I really miss that place.” 

Between having a newborn child and being a former college student, Mr. U makes the perfect example of the untold story behind the other screen. Taking care of a baby while simultaneously dealing with your job changing so much sounds like an impossible task to many. Being a student during the most socially constricting time anyone can remember has to be hard too, though. The point isn’t to compare the two, but just to realize that everyone has their own battles. Mr. U doubts that he could handle being a student during that time, saying in our interview, “I’m convinced that I wouldn’t have succeeded in higher ed if I had not been required to attend class in person.” I have similar feelings about teaching during the pandemic. I know I couldn’t handle the stress of managing a whole class and being a leader during that time. Spreading stories like Mr. U’s is important so we can start mending the relationship between teachers and students. Hopefully in the future we will look back on the pandemic as a time we all got stronger together and not as a time of conflict. We were all in that battle together and it’s important to remember we're all just people doing their best.

At a Glance:

Mark Urista

Occupation:

Instructor at LBCC

Years at LBCC:

11

Classes Taught: 

Public Speaking, Argument & Critical Discourse, Interpersonal Communication, and Introduction to Speech Communication

Family: 

Wife and one kid

Before Teaching at LBCC:

Forensics coach at El Camino College, taught at Cal State Fullerton, and Modesto Junior College

INTERVIEW

1. How did you get into teaching and was it your first career choice?

1. Yes.  I’ve wanted to be a Communication teacher at a community college since my undergrad years.

2. What is the subject or subjects you teach and why did you choose that specific area?

1. Public Speaking, Argumentation & Critical Discourse, and Interpersonal Communication.  I also advise our college’s Civil Discourse (co-curricular) Program.  These subjects have always interested me.  I find them to be engaging and practical.

3. What is a strength of yours that helps with your teaching and what is something you struggle with that makes teaching harder?

1. My experience as a community college student has been incredibly valuable.  I had some excellent instructors who provided models for providing good teaching.

2. Teaching classes online has been a struggle for me.  I feel comfortable developing curriculum and delivering content.  However, I’m still trying to figure out how to form relationships and create an engaging learning experience asynchronously.

4. Did you have a mentor or someone along those lines that helped you when you first started teaching? If not, what is some advice you would give young teachers?

1. Several.  I would not be who I am today without them.  They taught me to be authentic, maintain high standards, and always strive to exercise good judgment.

5. What did your home look like during the pandemic? What did a regular day in the Urista household look like while we were collectively stuck inside our homes?

1. Sitting in front of a computer while caring for a newborn and supporting my wife.  

6. Is there a small business that didn’t survive the pandemic that you visited frequently? If not, how has Covid directly impacted your local community?

1. Al Jebal restaurant.  I really miss that place.

7. What is something you think is different between pre-covid you and post-covid you? 

1. I feel a greater separation from LBCC’s campus community.  

8. What was the biggest teaching challenge for you during the parts of the pandemic we were in school?

1. Becoming an online teacher.  It was something that never appealed to me.  I became one out of necessity.

9. Has this challenge changed how you teach or your process?

1. Yes.  I essentially created a new course since my in-person Argumentation class was impossible to replicate online.  I have mixed feelings about it.  I think it can provide a valuable learning experience for some students.  However, there are others who I believe should truly be in an in-person class (mainly those who lack executive functioning skills).  I have thought a lot about my time as a high school dropout taking classes at my local community college during the last two years.  I’m convinced that I wouldn’t have succeeded in higher ed if I had not been required to attend class in person.  

10. Is there a memory that you think summarizes your experience with the pandemic as a teacher? If not, is there one word that captures it instead?

1. Disconnected.

11. How did LBCC help you during the pandemic? Did they do anything to make the transition to online learning any easier for you?

1. My dean has been awesome.  I feel comfortable being honest and direct with her about the good, the bad, and the ugly of pandemic teaching.  That has allowed us to work collaboratively to better serve students.

12. What is something that positively affects your life that came out of the pandemic? (Specifically a lesson, friend, skill, etc. that would be non-existent without covid)

1. I’ve come to appreciate how Zoom can connect people from far physical differences.  It also led me to incorporate Braver Angels Debates in my courses and as a regular activity for our Civil Discourse Program.

13. What is a struggle that is unique to teachers? On the flip side, what is a joy or privilege you get out of teaching that you don’t think another job could fill?

1. Connecting with and engaging students.  

2. The relationship I get to develop with students is a joy that continues to motivate me.

14.  How have the last two years affected this privilege or joy you find in teaching?

1. I’ve still been able to develop awesome relationships with some students.  However, online classes have created a separation with many.  The inability to interact synchronously diminishes much of the joy I derived from being in a physical classroom. 

15. Do you have any plans after teaching? In other words, how will retirement look for you?

1. That’s about two decades away :) I think I’ll always teach in some capacity.