Holly Hedberg Eklund is thinking a lot about higher education lately.
Not only is Hedberg Eklund is an English composition instructor here at DMACC Ankeny Campus and Grand View University, she is also attending Iowa State University as a graduate student with a focus on higher education administration.
Hedberg Eklund says her classes at DMACC are a little more interactive than her one at Grand View University.
“I like DMACC, I like my DMACC students, and I feel that we get to have really great classroom discussions. I feel like I have a little more creativity here with the way that I construct my class,” Hedberg Eklund said.
Hedberg Eklund admits that it’s hard to interact with students in her class at Grand View because it is so heavily online. Hedberg Eklund says that she mostly teaches the class in a computer lab. She says that she never really gets to see their faces because they are always in front of a computer. The classes at DMACC are more interactive and diverse in the classroom.
Hedberg Eklund has always wanted to teach.
She took a class in college on how to teach literature and that inspired her to pursue teaching English. Ultimately, Hedberg Eklund would like to be a part of an administration team in higher education although she would like to keep teaching at the collegiate level as well.
Hedberg Eklund reflected on how she decided what she wanted to do with her major:
“Even though I knew what I wanted to go into, I kind of changed my mind a lot. I actually wanted to write; I was also really into creative writing, then I sort of got into literature, and then I started working for the college [Iowa State] and realized that I should probably focus my education around higher education. A lot of it was just trying to figure out exactly what I wanted to do,” she said.
Hedberg Eklund has advice to students who are looking at an English degree or at any degree in general:
“Try to figure out early on what you want to do with your degree. There are so many paths in English such as rhetoric, literature, creative writing, and education,” she said.
Besides graduate classes and teaching, Hedberg Eklund is also working on a capstone project for Iowa State University.
Hedberg Eklund wants to focus her capstone on academic advising. For her capstone project, Hedberg Eklund will be initiating online advising for DMACC students.
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