{"id":15129,"date":"2020-11-01T23:01:25","date_gmt":"2020-11-02T07:01:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sjcctimes.com\/15129\/campus-life\/from-college-dropout-to-full-time-professor\/"},"modified":"2020-11-18T14:17:31","modified_gmt":"2020-11-18T22:17:31","slug":"from-college-dropout-to-full-time-professor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sjcctimes.com\/es\/15129\/profiles\/from-college-dropout-to-full-time-professor\/","title":{"rendered":"From college dropout to full-time professor"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
SJCC Communications Studies professor Waylon Baker (Maryellen Torres, Times Staff)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From North Dakota to Minnesota; from Utah, Wyoming, Alaska, New Jersey and then back to North Dakota, San Jose City College professor Waylon Baker eventually made his way to Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n

Growing up, Baker moved around a lot. He graduated from St. John High School in North Dakota, and received his bachelor’s degree in communications from North Dakota State University. He also earned master\u2019s and Ph.D. degrees from the University of North Dakota in communications and public discourse.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve definitely had so many outstanding teachers that I’ve experienced in high school and then college and graduate school, so it really modeled what I do based on what I’ve learned through the years,\u201d Baker said.<\/p>\n

Baker didn’t stop there. He went back to school at the institute of American Indian Arts and received his master\u2019s in creative writing.<\/p>\n

Completing a Ph.D. and Master of Fine Art degrees are his greatest achievements, as he previously dropped out of college.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started brand new, fresh at a big university where I was just a number; and first time being away from home, I made it for about a year and then I dropped out,\u201d Baker said.<\/p>\n

His perseverance helped him finish school even after dropping out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s the biggest thing; a lot of students go to college because that’s what they think they have to do and they are not ready,\u201d Baker said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t mature enough and I wasn\u2019t ready and I can admit that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baker\u2019s colleagues said he has made quite a difference working with other faculty and students at San Jose City College.<\/p>\n

\u201cWaylon is a collaborative, creative and innovative professor and colleague. He is fun to work with, and he is willing to take the lead on several departmental duties,\u201d Communications studies professor Shelley Giacalone wrote in an email. \u201cHe has emerged as a leader in our department and on our campus. I have learned so much from him about teaching in our new virtual format, as he is a tech expert. I enjoy working with him, and I appreciate his adaptable ability to handle challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baker said he became interested in teaching after being hired as a graduate student.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found that I love teaching, and I’ve pretty much been doing that ever since,\u201d Baker said.<\/p>\n

After finishing his degree programs, Baker said California is where he wanted to live.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to be in a bigger place and wanted to be somewhere where they have nice weather,\u201d Baker said. \u201cIt was a journey to get here, and now I\u2019m here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baker has been teaching Communications Studies at SJCC for more than two years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a great place to get your foundation,\u201d Baker said. \u201cIt feels like a home, and the faculty and administrators have been very helpful, and our counselors are very hands on.\u201d<\/p>\n

SJCC alumni Johnson Tran, media studies major, said Baker inspires students to see their potential.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only is he so open minded, but he really helps students open their views on what they could do with their lives and their opportunities out there,\u201d Tran said. \u201cHe’s one of the few professors who told me that they really believe in me. I didn’t have much family support growing up so having someone like that in my life telling me that I’m capable and smart enough made me feel like I can do anything.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From North Dakota to Minnesota; from Utah, Wyoming, Alaska, New Jersey and then back to North Dakota, San Jose City College professor Waylon Baker eventually made his way to Silicon Valley. Growing up, Baker moved around a lot. He graduated from St. John High School in North Dakota, and received his bachelor’s degree in communications…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15137,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[833],"tags":[396,40,91,42,93,942,85,1285,1318,1317],"staff_name":[1299],"class_list":["post-15129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-profiles","tag-academics","tag-city-college-times","tag-journalism","tag-journalism-program","tag-san-jose-city-college","tag-san-jose-city-college-times","tag-sjcc","tag-staff","tag-teacher","tag-waylon-baker","staff_name-maryellen-torres"],"yoast_head":"\nFrom college dropout to full-time professor - City College Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sjcctimes.com\/es\/15129\/profiles\/from-college-dropout-to-full-time-professor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_ES\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From college dropout to full-time professor - City College Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From North Dakota to Minnesota; from Utah, Wyoming, Alaska, New Jersey and then back to North Dakota, San Jose City College professor Waylon Baker eventually made his way to Silicon Valley. 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