The evolution of a teacher family New full-time biology professor follows footsteps

For some, choosing a career is one of the biggest existential questions to face in life, but for one of the new professors at Pierce, the answer could not be more obvious.

Wyndee Guzman is now a fulltime biology professor at Pierce College. She comes from a family of science teachers, being the fourth biologist in her family and the sixth community college professor.

“I absolutely love what I do,” Guzman said. “Teaching is in my genes. Biology is in my genes.”

This is Guzman’s second semester as a full-time instructor at Pierce College. She taught parttime beginning in 2010 until her promotion last fall.

“I am very impressed with professor Guzman. She is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about biology,” biology professor Shannon DeVaney said. “[She] also cares deeply about Pierce College and its students, which shows in her teaching as well as in her involvement in campus committees. We are lucky to have her.”

Guzman has high ratings on popular professor evaluation website Rate My Professors.. While she enjoys being well-liked, her main concern is that her students are learning.

“I don’t look at it as my success. I look at it as me helping [students] through their successes,” Guzman said.

-Wyndee Guzman Biology Professor

Guzman finds that the hardest part about her job involves reaching out to every single student, with the indifferent ones providing the greatest challenge. However, she stresses that this is no problem since teaching makes her excited.

“She explains and gives notes from the Moodle and is very clear in her lectures,” said Lala Voghossin, a student taking one of Guzman’s classes. “English is my second language. Any clarity helps.”

One thing that means a lot to Guzman is when past students visit and insist that they were inspired. A couple of them last semester came back after transferring to tell her that they became biology majors.

“I like when students who have passed my class come back and say ‘hey, I’m a bio major now,’ and I always say ‘hey, I got another one,’” Guzman said.

Guzman is a graduate of North Hollywood High School. There, she reached the distinction of first team all-league as a skilled basketball player. She then earned her bachelor’s and a master’s in biology at California State University, Northridge. Soon after, she found herself teaching at Pierce College.

“I love Pierce. I love my department,” Guzman said. “If I need any help, everybody is there for me. I personally think I have the best department of the school.”

Guzman is teaching two sections of Biology 3 this semester, the class that she regularly instructs. She will also teach a bird class in the fall worth one unit and a credit/no credit grade. The class will meet for one lecture and embark on multiple field trips.

Since becoming a birdwatcher at the age of six, Guzman has always been fascinated by bird life. To attain her master’s degree, she had to deeply study hummingbird behavior and pollination.

“I’m a bird person,” Guzman said, chuckling as she described her passion for ornithology. “Whenever I say that, my husband laughs. He knows I don’t have feathers or anything.”