Tales of the traveling teacher

English as a Second Language professor’s experience abroad allows her to relate to her students

Stacey Arevalo Roundup Reporter

With an upbeat tone, the slim, blonde-haired professor greeted her students, wearing a bright tangerine top that reflected her enthusiastism.

“Are you ready for the best day ever,” Jamie Ray said excitedly, enunciating every single word and integrating hand motions that emphasized certain words. “Today we are having a quiz and writing assignment.”

Ray is a thirty-year-old assistant professor of English as a Second Language at Pierce College. She grew up in Barstow, California and attended California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Ray said. “I really started to like teaching my first language and that’s what got me focused on choosing to be a teacher.”

She now lives in Los Angeles, but worked as an adjunct professor for five years at three different community colleges around Pomona prior to being hired as a full-time professor this spring.

“I used to drive a 100-mile loop is what it seemed like in between three schools every single day,” Ray said. “So now I can’t complain, at all, ever again.”

Ray said she always dreamt of having her own office and having a greater impact on campus.

“I love decorating. I always thought ‘If I ever get my own office, this is where I’m going to put all the positive and encouraging while also maintaining high standards for her Ray, who compared the Pierce campus to Disneyland because of the many different parts of it, said “Having a full time job doesn’t mean that I end. It doesn’t mean that I’ve worked so hard enough to stop and now I’m good -- I have to keep adapting,” Ray said. “I think the reason why it took me three years to become full-time was because Pierce was just waiting for me and I