(Photo by: Mike Kemper)

Teaching can mean different things to different people. Professors bring various attributes to the classroom, some good and some bad. Professors who get the most out of their students’ abilities can connect on a personal level by providing constructive feedback, an attribute that should not go unnoticed.

Professor Lauren Phillips, an adjunct professor in the graphic design department, makes an effort to build a personal connection with her students, helping guide them to the best use of their abilities.

“I like to get to know the students, individually,” Phillips said. “I know a huge amount about their lives, and I know what they’re bringing to the class. And then I try to take whatever they’re bringing to the class, whatever part of them, and kind of run with that and try to get whatever they’re trying to do to be just a little bit better.”

Chair and Associate Professor of Graphic Design and Visual Design Applications Eric Winter told The Messenger that Professor Phillips brings a fresh, contemporary perspective to the graphic design department, and she makes students better.

“The output is and oftentimes, honestly, better than what I was getting out of students,” Winter said. “It’s just great from a chair perspective to be like, if it’s in Lauren’s hands, I don’t worry about it. The output is great, and students like her.”

Winter also explained that Phillips is vital to the graphic design and visual design department because she brings experience.

“Lauren is unique in that before coming to us, she was a K-12 art teacher,” Winter said. “She was a licensed teacher and had years of experience in the classroom already, which for us is great.”

Phillips’ ten-plus years in elementary education honed her teaching experience and helped her increase student output by instilling confidence in their work.

“My personal philosophy is to give them the confidence and skills to accomplish their goals,” Phillips said. “I think in the creative world, confidence is an issue, or it can be an issue.”

She instills confidence to reach their potential by following their creative voices.

“I feel like she’s really good at just being encouraging and trying to help you just continue with the ideas that you have that she sees the potential in,” Kayla Aspey, a student in Professor Phillips’ class, said. “She’s really good at finding that potential and helping you follow that.”

She wants to help her students succeed, move on from JCCC, find a job and be productive in the real world in just two years. She does this by keeping students grounded in their strengths.

“I don’t ever try to get them to go in a completely different direction or be something that they’re not,” Phillips said. “I just don’t think that’s a winning combination, and I think there is a way to guide what they are doing, what they are interested in, to a really successful place, and that’s what I try to do.”