Karen C. Rowe

One of the things I have loved the most about teaching communication classes is that nobody can honestly ask me this: "Why do I have to take this class? What's it got to do with the real world!?" EVERYTHING!

Here at Evergreen Valley College, I teach CS10 (Interpersonal Communication), CS18 (Introduction to Communication Studies), and CS 20 (Oral Communication). One of my areas of expertise is managing communication apprehension (fear of speaking).

I hope this is a comfort for many of my students. I myself, have lived with anxiety around speaking up and speaking out; trusting my intentions and intuition; learning to express myself so others could listen and receive. There were periods of my life that I felt voiceless, imprisoned in my own heart and mind out of fear of being judged by others. It took the first half of my life to learn that I could not give others the power over my voice, over my mind, and over my heart. What I wanted was to feel free to share my knowledge, wisdom, and joy.

Gaining competency in communication, whether it is in the public speaking arena, in the workplace, or in relationships, can be liberating and healing. This, at least has been my personal experience, and through my many career choices, it became what I most wanted to share with others. As a result, I started my third career as a community college professor 38 years ago. Here I regularly experience the joy of helping students develop their gifts and communication skills.

Straight out of college, my first career was as a journalist with a local newspaper back in my home state of New Jersey. Soon I transitioned to the corporate public relations field where I served as a public relations writer and editor for Warner-Lambert Company, a pharmaceutical company which ultimately merged with Pfizer at the beginning of the millennium. Next, I moved to New York City where I worked for Exxon Corporation as a corporate communication specialist, and then went back to New Jersey to work for Exxon Research and Engineer as a community relations expert. As you can see, my entire professional career has been in one aspect or another of communication. All of that experience informs my teaching in the classroom. In other words in my field I have knowledge, wisdom and experience.

Along with teaching, I have had a life-long investment in the areas of communication and mental health, conflict resolution and management,

mindful communication, and nonviolent communication. Additionally, I have received training in peer mediation. Currently, I am updating my skills so that I can resume mediation work once I retire.

Outside of my professional commitments, I am active in the yoga community in Santa Cruz where I reside. I write under the tutelage of author Laura Davis, practice mindfulness meditation, work with crystals, aromatherapy, and other healing modalities, and I enjoy studying comparative religion. The things I enjoy most are reading, laughing, loving, learning, and storytelling.

I graduated with a BA in English Literature from Georgetown University in 1976 and received a MA in Speech and Communication Studies from San Francisco State University in 1990.

If you look carefully at my Canvas shell, you would notice that I use pictures of bridges throughout this course. Effective communication is truly about building relationships and bridging divides. Competent communication skills enable us to build bridges of understanding between people who may be vastly different than we are in a number of ways.

More than ever the world needs people who are competent, caring, and compassionate communicators. It is not only my job but also my joy to have taught at Evergreen Valley College and I am honored to usher our future leaders through this journey