![ChristmasCard 2 Michelle with her husband and two sons."](https://i0.wp.com/brocansky.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/ChristmasCard-2-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1)
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![IMG_5282 2 Michelle with her miniature weiner dog, Dwight."](https://i0.wp.com/brocansky.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/IMG_5282-2-scaled.jpg?fit=242%2C300&ssl=1)
who am I?
- I am a community college educator -- and a teacher at heart.
- I am a mom, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, fur mama, and friend.
- I want all the weiner dogs.
- I love pilates, long walks, chocolate, and red wine.
- I am a survivor of open heart surgery and a stroke.
- I am a first-generation equity practitioner, striving to become racially literate.
- I believe equity gaps in higher education are the result of systemic barriers that will only be improved when more educators take a seat at the equity table.
- I am the daughter of two first-generation Americans, both born to White European immigrants.
- I believe online courses are key to expanding access to higher education for those who do not have the privilege to be on-campus full-time.
- I work each day to be cognizant of the privileges granted to me and the unconscious biases I possess.
- I believe that community colleges are vital to improving the social mobility of Americans, particularly those from minoritized populations.
- I believe teaching matters.
- I believe each student brings knowledge and experiences into a class and it is up to educators to design environments that recognize and value this diversity.
- I believe that instructor-student relationships are the connective tissue between students and academic success and establishing them in asynchronous online courses is even more important.
- I believe that college professors must be aware of and support the affective aspects of learning.