Instructor Introduction to Speech 3 at Barstow Community College
My name is Greg Cheek and welcome to (our) course together! I'm extremely excited to begin my 7th year of online teaching at Barstow College.
This course is extremely interactive and we will learn a tremendous amount about each other in the next couple of months. Additionally, I want to congratulate you on your decision to pursue your education online with Barstow Community College. Barstow is a magnificent college with an amazing faculty! You've made a great choice! From any position in the business world from CEO of a Fortune 500 company to being self employed, you must be able to effectively understand the communication process in order to be successful. We will intensely study the communication process in the next couple of months! We will have fun doing it as well!
I'm originally from Sacramento, California. I graduated from Foothill High School in 1980 (Wow! that long ago?) I enlisted in the Air Force at age 18 and served 4 years in Texas, Turkey, and California. I took my first college class by mail while I was serving in Turkey. I completed most of my AA degree by extended education - all by mail!
I completed my 4 years active duty with the Air Force in 1984 and I attended Shasta Community College in Redding, California. I remained in the Air Force Reserves throughout community college and earned my AA degree in General Education in May 1986. I transferred to California State University, Chico and joined the Army ROTC program and graduated in May 1988 with a BA Degree in Education and as a 2nd LT in the US Army and the Medical Service Corps. I married my girlfriend throughout college (Mary). We departed for our new life in the Army at Ft Sam Houston, Texas.
I spent the next 16 years in the Army. My first assignment was my most influential tour of duty and changed the way I look at communication. I served as an aide de camp during Operation Desert Shield and Storm to a Senior General Officer that worked directly under General Colin Powell and General Norman Schwarzkopf. I watched every day for a year the way the senior military and civilian officials would communicate to each other and the public. Over the next couple of years, I asked anyone that was successful in business, military, and sports….what is the key to success? The resounding answer was - The ability to communicate effectively! I made the decision in 1991 that I was going to land a job that allowed me the chance to get a graduate degree in communication. I selected Ft Carson, Colorado and I immediately began the Masters Degree in Communication at the University of Northern Colorado. Classes were taught at the US Air Force Academy and I graduated with an MA in Communication with an emphasis in Leadership Communication. My ability to effectively communicate was a tremendous asset throughout my military career. I received the MacArthur Leadership award as a Captain and I was promoted early to Major and Lt Colonel. All my success was due to my family, the great service members I worked with and my ability to effectively communicate.
Teaching….I must have started teaching somewhere? My first teaching assignment was on nights and weekends at Ft Irwin, CA (NTC) for Barstow Community College. I taught speech classes for two years while serving as an OC on the Scorpion Team at the NTC and I just never stopped teaching. I have not missed a semester in 15 years. I've taught over 55 courses in locations around the world at 11 different colleges and universities. Teaching is my absolute LOVE! I retired in May 2005 from the US Army and I taught full time for one year at the Community College of Southern Nevada and UNLV in Las Vegas, Nevada. I returned to Kansas City in 2007 and accepted a position as a DA Civilian with the US Army Battle Command Training Program at Fort Leavenworth, KS. I worked at Ft Leavenworth until I recently accepted a position on 1 August with the United States European Command in Stuttgart, Germany. I travel alot with my position and I’m usually grading papers and chatting with my students from some hotel room around the world. Mary and I have three children, Erik, 21 (currently serving in the US Air Force at McChord AFB, WA) Nicole, 19 (ROTC and Volleyball scholarship as a Soph Engineering Major at Seattle Pacific University) and Stefanie (she is a JR in HS and we will see what happensJ -17)
This course is about each of you and how you interact with each other! You will find this fun and entertaining as you meet your fellow students from around the world. My e-mail is gcheek@bcconline.com . Since I’m in Germany, e-mail will be the best way for you to contact me. If we need to talk on the phone, you can contact me and I will coordinate to call you from Europe.
I look forward to a great semester! Let's begin to Communicate!
Kinds Regards!
Greg
 |
 |
 |