About Me
Associate Professor, Counseling
2019 Cuyamaca Teaching Excellence Award Nominee
2007 California Online Teaching Award
I have taught a variety of classes besides COUNSELING courses, including graduate courses in counseling/psychology, ESL (English as a Second Language), Language Arts, Work Experience and more. I’ve worked with underrepresented, first generation college students and also highly gifted students in a variety of settings. I’ve coordinated AVID (Advanced Via Individual Determination) and GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) programs at high schools.
I LOVE technology and have always used technology in my counseling and teaching. I was fascinated with online learning early on and took the time to learn various Learning Management Systems (LMS) to teach online and online pedagogy. I have taught online and hybrid at San Diego Mesa College, National University, Chapman University and most currently, Cuyamaca College. I have been involved in online outreach by being a mentor to faculty and teaching faculty how to teach online. I have served and co-chaired on our Online Teaching and Learning Committee in the past and I have developed and created a number of workshops and procedures to help online teachers. I have won awards for my online teaching and I present at online teaching conferences.
Psychological type is fascinating to me. I became MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) Certified in 2007. The MBTI is based on Carl Young's theory of personality. Understanding our own personality preferences will help us in choosing a major and a career and how to get along with others (our loved ones, classmates, professors, and working colleagues). I teach the concepts of personality type and the MBTI in my courses. I also present on type at Career Development and Student Success conferences. In addition, I give professional development training on type. I am also Strong Interest Inventory Certified. This is an amazing Career Assessment that helps students find their career interests in great detail. We do Strong and MBTI interpretations in my classes.
2019 Committees and Groups I serve:
- Faculty Co-Chair, Curriculum Committee
- Faculty Co-Advisor, Phi Theta Kappa
- Web Communications Committee
- Scholarship Committee
I raised my family in beautiful San Diego and have been very active in my community. My youngest son attends Columbia University Engineering in NYC, Class of 2021. My oldest son graduated Harvard, Class of 2015 and has two Master's Degrees in Music from New England Conservatory of Music (2016) and Berklee College of Music's Global Jazz Institute (2017) and now faculty at the Berklee's Global Jazz Institute.
I LOVE music. My oldest son is an amazing jazz pianist/composer and I have grown to love the variety of music he shares from his bands. You can learn more about Chase at www.chasemorrin.com. Recent video of Chase's group at TEDx San Diego 2018 (Biotechnology):
TEDx Talk Video 1- From the Stars
TEDx Talk Video 2 - From Us to Somewhere Else
TEDx Talk Video 3 - Rooted Feet
I LOVE to travel. Boston and New York City are rapidly becoming second homes to me because both my boys are living on the East Coast. Other great destinations have included India, UAE, Iceland, Israel and much more. In my travels, I enjoy immersing myself into the culture and getting to know the people. I'm intrigued by the arts, education, workforce and economical systems in different countries.
Picture of me at Princeton University in Albert Einstein's classroom, teaching on his Blackboard - April 2011
I love quotes and affirmations. Here are a few of my favorites:
"Be daring, be different, be impractical; be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safer's, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary." —Cecil Beaton
"Let every obstacle become an opportunity"
"We~are~all~connected" - Connect with me at LinkedIN
Thank you for reading about me. I love my career!
Photos
Presenting at the National FYE Conference
Cuyamaca Graduation
Counseling in my office
Student Awards
My High School Counseling Office - 2004
Degrees and Credentials
- Doctoral Student - Education and Psychology
- MA Counseling Education
- Pupil Personal Services Credential (to counsel K-12 students in California Public Schools)
- BA English, with an emphasis in Creative Writing
- Single Subject Teaching Credential (To teach Language Arts in California Public Schools)
- Cross Cultural Language Academic Certificate (CLAD)
- Distance Counseling Credential
- College Counseling Certificate
- Strong Interest Inventory Certified and MBTI Certified
- 21st Century Skills Certificate
Experience
- Community College Program Coordinator/Department Chair, Counselor and Instructor
- Career Services Leader/Coordinator
- Online Trainer
- Graduate Counseling Educator and Supervisor
- High School Guidance Counselor
- Coordinated AVID (a program to help underrepresented students prepare for college)
- Coordinated GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) programs and served on the district's Task Force
- Taught English and ESL
