2008 Woodie Awards
"F" Student Becomes "A" Teacher
Former student goes from failing speech to teaching it.
Tanuj Mitroo
Issue date: 9/8/04 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
What would you do if you graduated high school with a 1.9 GPA and then failed out of three colleges in three years? When Duane W. Smith was faced with that decision he opted to become a professor.
"Not everyone is an 'A' student, but anyone can be," said Smith, who failed the first grade and was diagnosed with dyslexia at 7 years old.
Smith's first attempt at college was at Pierce in 1987, where he failed speech 101. The following year he decided to try his luck at College of the Canyons, where he came up dry. In 1989, he failed speech 104 at Valley College. At that point, Smith decided to take the LAPD entrance exam in 1990. "I was not planning on being a cop," said Smith, whose father was a sergeant in the department. "I just needed a job, and was trying anything. When I failed the LAPD written exam, it forced me to really start thinking about the importance of education, and in particular the ability to write properly."
Smith finally attended Northern Arizona University in 1995, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in speech.
After graduating from NAU, Dr. Keving Baaske asked Smith to consider attending graduate school at California State University, where Smith would coach the speech team, while also learning to teach and earning a master's degree in Communication Studies.
"I love people, and I love to communicate, so I quickly realized I greatly enjoyed teaching. I did not find teaching, it was not the plan. Teaching found me!" said Smith.
Smith, who has an 8-month-old girl named Sierra, and another on the way nick-named "baby-oops!" has been teaching at Valley College for five years and loves to travel with his wife, Fleur.
"Prague is my favorite place in the world... thus far," said Smith. "The city and streets look just like Disney Land - but it's real!"
He travels to a different state each year for the National Championships. In 2001, he went to Europe with his speech team for the International Tournament.
When asked what lesson he learned through his experiences, he said "I realized something amazing -if I attended my classes, and did what the instructor required I would pass my classes with minimal effort. F's turned to B's and A's. If I can do it... anyone can!"
 Media Credit: Daniel Villaseñor SPEAKING OF WHICH - Speech teacher Duane W. Smith makes the grade. |
"Not everyone is an 'A' student, but anyone can be," said Smith, who failed the first grade and was diagnosed with dyslexia at 7 years old.
Smith's first attempt at college was at Pierce in 1987, where he failed speech 101. The following year he decided to try his luck at College of the Canyons, where he came up dry. In 1989, he failed speech 104 at Valley College. At that point, Smith decided to take the LAPD entrance exam in 1990. "I was not planning on being a cop," said Smith, whose father was a sergeant in the department. "I just needed a job, and was trying anything. When I failed the LAPD written exam, it forced me to really start thinking about the importance of education, and in particular the ability to write properly."
Smith finally attended Northern Arizona University in 1995, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in speech.
After graduating from NAU, Dr. Keving Baaske asked Smith to consider attending graduate school at California State University, where Smith would coach the speech team, while also learning to teach and earning a master's degree in Communication Studies.
"I love people, and I love to communicate, so I quickly realized I greatly enjoyed teaching. I did not find teaching, it was not the plan. Teaching found me!" said Smith.
Smith, who has an 8-month-old girl named Sierra, and another on the way nick-named "baby-oops!" has been teaching at Valley College for five years and loves to travel with his wife, Fleur.
"Prague is my favorite place in the world... thus far," said Smith. "The city and streets look just like Disney Land - but it's real!"
He travels to a different state each year for the National Championships. In 2001, he went to Europe with his speech team for the International Tournament.
When asked what lesson he learned through his experiences, he said "I realized something amazing -if I attended my classes, and did what the instructor required I would pass my classes with minimal effort. F's turned to B's and A's. If I can do it... anyone can!"
