Hsi-Ling Huang, Assistant Professor of English

Dr. Hsi-Ling Huang became a college professor because she “liked that [she] had a way to change the world through teaching.” She is an assistant professor of English in GGC’s School of Liberal Arts.

Huang knew from a young age that she wanted to be a teacher. “I’ve always liked teaching, ever since I was little,” she says.

When she was an undergraduate student in Taiwan, she had a part-time job teaching children, which she enjoyed immensely. After coming to America for graduate school, she developed a love of creative writing, which she says is the class she most enjoys teaching.

Because English is her third language, after Taiwanese and Chinese, she used the English language as an escape. When she writes in English, she is able to express herself more freely and does not have to edit her thoughts or feelings.

“It is a voice where I can speak freely. When I was writing in Chinese, I had to hide my work from my family, because I was writing about them.”

Her teaching philosophy revolves around a student centered classroom where students are active participants in class.

“I do not want to lecture and have the students just sit there and copy down notes. So my classes usually involve activities, games, writing something on the board or leading a class discussion where they learn leadership skills, public speaking skills. They are given a sense of how the teacher feels in front of a class.”

In addition to literature and writing, she teaches students the integral art of time management. She impresses on them the importance of staying organized so they can optimize their college experience.

“Students will get very busy…and at some point they will feel overwhelmed. So I say if you know when an assignment is due, you can do it ahead of time so you can be on top of things. Organization helps to reduce stress and students will actually do better in class.”

She was attracted to GGC because it is billed as “The Campus of Tomorrow.” WebCT and integrated “smart classrooms” bring technology to the students, and Huang enjoys being able to bring state-of-the-art techniques to the classroom.

When not teaching in a GGC classroom, she helps local students who need assistance preparing for the SAT and teaches English to area Asian immigrants.

View her professional profile for more information.