Featured teacher: Tresa Jex

By Michael Mishler
Staff Writer

Tresa Jex
Adjunct English faculty
Employed 16 years

Q: What made you want to teach at Washtenaw?

A: I was a student here many many moons ago. I’ve always loved this school and have been impressed by their staff.

Q: What do you most like to do in your free time?

A: I’m an athlete, so I play sports.

Q: What is your favorite food and why?

A: Tomato orzo soup because it’s easy to make and it tastes fabulous.

Q: Where would you most like to go if you could go anywhere in the world for free?

A: I would love to see the Greek isles. I’ve seen pictures and they’re absolutely magnificent. I’ve had friends visit there. They’re beautiful and definitely the one place I’d like to go.

Q: What is the most exciting thing you’ve ever done?

A: The most exciting thing I’ve ever done is ski in the Swiss Alps.

Q: If you could know the answer to any question you have, what would you most like to know?

A: That’s a good question. The answer to “What makes calculus so difficult to learn?” My daughter asks me every day.

Q: What is your motivation to come do your job?

A: My motivation is the students. I have students who, believe it or not, still in 2016, are the first kids going to college out of their family. The motivation to help them succeed is all I need to get going in the morning.

Q: What is the most satisfying part of your job?

A: Absolutely seeing the students succeed, overcoming obstacles that we take for granted. You have a roof over your head, I have a roof over my head, but I have students who don’t have roofs over their heads, I have students who’ve gone hungry, been abused by some significant others, but they still come to class every day. That’s what makes it so important to be here.

Q: What is the most concerning thing you’ve seen in the news lately?

A: I don’t watch the news because it’s all depressing bad stuff, but I would say what concerns me the most is how in every election year, the candidates have gone so far off track. We no longer talk about politics. We talk about the politicians’ nasty lives, things that don’t matter to their office and things that shouldn’t matter to us. We care about their personal business, and that’s very concerning to me. What is their actual platform? What do they stand for? What are they hoping to achieve in office? We shouldn’t care about the rest. That’s very concerning.

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