English Professor David Hurst’s journey into teaching was not a typical one. Hurst graduated from high school and went to CSU Fresno, or Fresno State as it’s commonly called. However, it didn’t go as planned. Hurst says: “When I graduated high school I went right to Fresno State, I didn’t know what to do I was lost, I ended up dropping out twice.”
After dropping out from Fresno State, Hurst went on to travel around and work. Hurst says he felt like a wanderer. Eventually he moved back to Fresno and after working for a construction company he decided it was time to try again.
Hurst says, “I would encourage the young guys to go back to school and I would give them letters of recommendation. At one point I recognized I wasn’t happy hiring people into a job where there is no future for them.”
One of the guys told him that he was excited about going back to school after the summer ended. Hurst realized he should also be excited about going back to school. At 40-years-old, Hurst decided to go back to school. He says he wanted to be a poet and needed to angle his learning to write better and he would need to teach to have a stable income.
It took 10 years for Hurst to get his BA in English and MFA in composition all while working and caring for his family. Hurst worked part-time at Fresno City College and Reedley City College, then became a teacher’s assistant at Fresno State. After getting his MFA in 2006, Hurst got hired at College of the Sequoias. “At first it was pretty terrifying to be honest with you. It’s funny I had a lot of experience managing people. Telling people what to do is easy, but helping people and teaching is harder. I remember the first time I went into a classroom to teach, I told myself I just have to walk through the door and pretend to know what I am doing. If I stopped at the door I felt like I would give up.” To Hurst however being an educator is something he loves. With each of his different classes he focuses on different topics and issues to discuss. From issues in the world to the complexity of literature, the variety of topics in discussions is what he strives for in his classes. The process of learning and thinking about bigger issues is what Hurst wants his students to enjoy.
Along with this, Hurst loves interacting with students and seeing the different perspectives each class brings. Hurst says, “It’s fascinating seeing people grow. There is nothing like interacting with students, its exhausting at the end of the day, but it is rewarding. There is something about teaching that is just different about other jobs.”
When he isn’t busy teaching, Hurst enjoys hiking, traveling and backpacking with his wife. Hurst still writes poetry and enjoys doing D.I.Y projects. Hurst is active on campus and is a part of the Faculty Union and is vice president of the Academic Senate. With a deep connection in the field of teaching Hurst had a lot of thoughts on the state of the field: “…even in the last 10 years a lot has changed in teaching. I think in general the discipline of teaching is getting better and I like staying at the forefront of that. The bottom line is I feel the best when my students are succeeding not only in my class but beyond my class and the future.” Hurst continued: “I traveled a lot when I was young so I saw and experienced a lot of different cultures. So I have a lot of appreciation for a lot of cultures. I am glad we are seeing changes in colleges regarding inclusivity.” Hurst finished: “It’s exciting there is a lot of new blood and I hope we are all helping students be better.”
