About the Instructor: Ms. Pasley
My name is Denise Pasley; but my name tells nothing about who I am as a person. Born in Pittsburgh, PA, I grew up in a primarily African-American community in an era when solidarity marked the sign of the times. In those days, there were few divorced parents that I knew of and the dream of working class parents was that their children would graduate high school and "get a job". My parents were no different and the idea of going to college was something they never envisioned for me. But I did! Early in my life, school came easy to me and I knew I would someday go to college.
But that didn’t happen for me immediately after high school. Although I was a student in the Scholar’s Program (equivalent to the current AP program) with excellent grades, the one exclusive college I applied to turned me down flat. Emotionally discouraged by this, I decided to just get a job and take classes at the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC). During my tenure at CCAC, I worked in the retail and banking industries and took classes whenever possible. But community college was not enough for me, so I enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh. After attending the university for two years part-time, I decide this process was also too slow – I wanted my degree sooner. By that time – I was twenty-three years old! I heard of a program providing scholarships to women who were nontraditional age students that was offered at Chatham College (now Chatham University). I enrolled, was accepted and graduated from Chatham University in May of 1986. However, the bitter-sweet result of college graduation is answering the question, "What do I do now?" My answer was to join the United States Air Force and serve my country.
The Air Force was a four year learning experience that was rewarding and I would not change the decision to join even if it was possible. Through the military’s commitment to training I realized the importance of education for developing skills and it brought me to Southern California since my first duty station was on George Air Force Base. After receiving an honorable discharge from the Air Force, my love for education spilled into my new life. I was hired as an Instructor at a small vocational business school in 1991. In 1998, I began working on a CA teaching credential in Secondary Education. I graduated from Chapman University with teaching credential in 1999 and taught for more than 10 years in the High Desert. During my years as a high school teacher, education remained an important aspect of my life. I completed a Master of Science in Management from Colorado Technical University in 2004 and I started my own small business with a focus on education for personal and professional wellness. In the Fall of 2007, I joined the Adjunct Faculty staff at Barstow Community College so I could extend my courses in Workforce Development to youth as well as adult learners. My professional and personal philosophy is focused on the belief that education is not a bad word – it is the food of life. I like to compare my teaching philosophy to great pizza (my favorite food) for your brain. Learning can be fun, informative and useful!
As a professional it has been important to maintain relationships with other colleagues in my field. To this end, I have maintain memberships with various chambers in the High Desert community, the Computer Users in Education (CUE) , the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE), the Alliance for Education Toastmasters, Int., and the Society of Human Resource Management. These organizations help me stay abreast of innovations in technology, education, community development and business education.
If you have not realized it after reading the summary of my life so far, I believe strongly that education is the key to success. Like the great pizza I mention above, I hope that this course is not only tasty to your information palate, but will also fill your head with personal and professional knowledge that you will use for years to come.
Peace & Blessings,
Denise J. Pasley
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