Chapter 5: Community College

Ji-eun Kim, a recent Ph.D. graduate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from a U.S. university, was so excited to start her first day at an urban community college. How could she not be? She was told that she was chosen as the final candidate for this tenure-track assistant professor position out of more than 150 candidates!

She e-mailed her friends back in Korea and told them about her new position. One of her friends shot back a string of questions: “What is a community college? Are they private schools? Be careful! I heard many bogus colleges in the United States cheat people out of their money. Don’t be trapped, Ji-eun! You have a Ph.D.; you should teach at a real college …”