Transitioning to SVCC during a Pandemic

By Ethan Ainley

Sauk Valley Community College is welcoming a new math professor this semester. Connor Williams is teaching intermediate algebra classes and elementary statistics.

He has been teaching for a total of six years. Professor Williams first spent five years teaching 8th graders and one-year teaching high school. As well as teaching at other community colleges in the area for the last four years.

I got to talk virtually with Professor Williams and he let is excited to be working at Sauk. “They [SVCC] have a lot of the same values of teaching that I look at. There is a lot of putting the students first,” he said. Community college is where he was inspired by his math professor to become a teacher himself.

Professor Williams talked about transitioning to a new job during a pandemic, “The transition has been unlike anything I’ve ever experienced because I’m not actually in the building.” His transition has occurred almost entirely right from home.

The pandemic hasn’t stopped him from doing his favorite hobbies like running, reading, playing video games, and watching movies. However, in a normal non-pandemic year he runs about eight 5Ks per year. The COVID Pandemic Garbage found in the Rock River, Dixon High School, Dixon, Illinois has also stopped him from going with his wife to Disney World, as they regularly do in a year. He loves the field of math and his favorite thing about the subject is, “The applications you can put towards almost anything.” Professor Williams finds sports statistics to be the most interesting.

He doesn’t just love the subject, but he also loves the rewarding feeling of being a teacher that not even a pandemic can stop him from getting. Professor Williams said, “The most rewarding feeling is seeing a student have that moment of success.” Professor Williams is very impressed with Sauk students. They have made transitioning much easier for him. He said, “It really shows in the Sauk students that everyone has the work ethic and want to be successful.”

He is aware some students don’t like math but his advice is to, “ give every class a fair shot.” Professor Williams is looking forward to hopefully helping those students gain an appreciation for math just like his professor did for him.