Education
B.A. in Secondary Education, English and History, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
M.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
Work History
Terry has taught English as a Second Language for 20 years. Seventeen of those years have been at The English Language Institute at the University of Texas at Arlington. She received her M.A. in the summer of 1980. Two months later she left for a teaching job at the Centro Colombo Americano in Bucaramanga Colombia. After a year at the binational center, she got a job as an English professor in UIS, Universidad Industrial de Santander in Bucaramanga, Colombia. In December of 1982, she returned to the states, but to Texas where her family had then moved. In January of 1983 she started teaching at the ELI in UTA in addition to a course at Texas Wesleyan College and a course at TCJC, Tarrant County Community College. In addition, she taught in refugee program in Ft. Worth. But her main job was at the ELI.
When Terry began at the ELI, she taught in all skill areas. G/W 1, Orals 3, and Reading 6. Then when administrative positions were created, Terry's job consists of teaching one course and being student advisor.
As student advisor, Terry's job is a multitude of activities. Terry is available to help students with their problems. A sample of the problems Terry usually deals with are traffic tickets, getting an apartment, opening bank accounts, social security numbers, etc. She acts as the liaison between ELI students and the community. Terry is also the editor of the ELI monthly newsletter. This newsletter keeps students up to date on events in the program. In addition, Terry is also responsible for planning semester events and field trips.
In addition to her regular job, Terry has made professional presentations at National TESOL, Regional TESOLS, State TESOLS, Local TESOLS, and in various graduate level courses at UTA.
Thoughts About Her Work
Terry really enjoys the work she does and she feels it is very important to be able to help students. She remembers going to Colombia and all the assistance she had there especially at first. It made the transition a lot easier for her. She hopes that as student advisor she can help students in their transition to life in America. It is very important that you can have someone you trust to talk to. She hopes that she can provide that to the ELI students.
Teaching is also enjoyable for Terry. Although Terry has taught at various levels and skills throughout the years, she is partial to the beginners, level one. For her language learning is like traveling through a tunnel. When you first begin your journey in the tunnel, you don't see any light at the end of it. The more you travel through that tunnel, the light appears, first as a dim flicker and with each step it gets brighter and brighter. Beginners in the language have a very long way to go to master the it. She also knows that learning another language is difficult. She hopes that she can instill in students the interest to continue studying the language whether it is in this program or another one.
Interests
Terry also has interests outside her profession. She enjoys raising and spending her time with her daughter and her two boys. She also enjoys taking her mother "junkin", that is, going to the various second hand stores in the area. Terry has fun with her cats and dogs. She has 5 cats and 4 dogs. Terry has several pastimes. First, she has a passion for genealogy. She is serious in learning about her family roots. Since she has begun this, she has discovered that her family has had a long history in American with the earliest ones coming in the 1600s to America. Connected with this is photography. She likes to take pictures of family member for the family photo album. Another hobby is working with plants. She enjoys watching them grow. Reading is also an important part of Terry's life. Her main reading genre are Christian books and histories.
Other Miscellaneous Information about Terry:
1. She loves chocolate!!! Anything with chocolate.
2. Her favorite moves are science fiction and horror.
3. She is not a morning person. She is a night owl.
4. She hates driving in rush-hour traffic.
5. She enjoys watching the educational channels on TV.
6. She is fascinated with the work of forensic scientists.
7. She'd love to live in the country (but she lives in the city!)
8. She doesn't like to cook.
9. Her favorite color is pastel blue.
10. She has quite a sense of humor.
