HoC: Sean Connelly
Humans of Chaffey
Sean Connelly, Photo by Jazmine Martinez
Sean Connelly is far from the average English professor that gives a lecture, assigns a worksheet and allows students to “learn” from all the red pen markings and a sad letter grade. He is also not the average advisor that gives more factual information on a college or degree directly after a student says, “I’m drawn to English.”
The first time I met Sean Connelly, I walked in during his office hours at Chaffey College's Fontana campus to meet an energetic and lively-spoken man that reminds me of a fun dad. Around his office were English Literature books, Funko POP! collectables and pictures and notes received from his kids, students and colleagues. After making quick introductions and taking a seat, he says, “Tell me about yourself, Jazmine!”
We easily strayed from the topic, but directed me to what he wanted to know about myself and the field of English at the same time. It helps students through their college experience to know that faculty members can relate and listen on a humanistic scale, genuinely wanting to see excellence out of them.
Connelly knows how to connect and tailor a personal counseling experience in order to find the root of what students enjoy within the English field; as he says, “It’s so nebulous sometimes.” Even as a professor, he explains the class criteria and students’ comments to be more open-ended compared to science or mathematics. It is more-so seen as an art. This would be credited to his mother’s advice growing up, saying:
“You need to follow what you love, you need to study what you love.”
To him, this is the English major that includes the ties of humanistic philosophy, literature and anthology which he uses in his career practices and personal life.
His transparency and passion appear to be natural, as this is his calling; however, he hasn't always been so certain about this career choice. There were times when he was in need of guidance as well. Mr. Connelly described his younger-self, an undergraduate, to be a logical, “long-term planner.” He began as a communications major straight out of high school, graduating ninth out of 450 students, and attended UC Santa Barbara shortly after. He knew inside that communications could be a lot more marketable than an English major and enjoyed the idea of being well-off financially.
Connelly says, “I’m a late teenager there, you know, a shy one at that. And I was operating under the very popular delusion that if I just made enough money, everything else will fall into place.”
The undergraduate Sean Connelly considered being an attorney or lawyer. He told himself that he knew how to read and argue his stance. A lot of times, he was passionate and “ready to go gladiator” on students in class, as he puts it. Connelly assumes this could easily translate to a courthouse and a legal case. There was an inner-belief that he felt could be the way of attaining success beginning with his financial stance: having a certain car, clothes, house and everything else falling into place after. He mentioned that he felt more focused on outward appearances more than his internal understanding.
Advisor and Professor Connelly discovered quickly that the students and the major didn’t move him along with his concept of making money. He felt the communications major at Santa Barbara had many people that were "training" as opposed to learning. There was a robotic sense to their mentality that focused solely on chasing a notable salary, rather than developing and analyzing knowledgeable content that fuels passion and understanding. He immediately shifted his focus towards English, creating this overall infatuation with the subject.
“Learning everything I could about the humanities and about the people who created art, literature and philosophy gave me a certain excitement, you know, certain intellectual high that didn’t match anything else I’d ever done before,” says Sean Connelly himself.
Mr. Connelly acknowledges both the passion and experience from his past that led him to where he is today. Credit is given to one of his mentors being a medieval professor: Frank Garner, a man Connelly says to resemble American poet Walt Whitman. He gave him humane and open-ended conversations that helped distinguish what Connelly truly wanted from his life. Garner spoke to him as a true individual instead of a lost student and this made all the difference.
He emphasizes, “Sometimes we get so busy and so into the hustle and bustle, or whatever we’re doing in college, that we don’t take time to take that extra step outwards to connect with somebody in order to find out what we need to do for the future.”
This is when Connelly knew he wanted to be an advisor, as well as a professor. His passion for English in its entirety, joined with philosophical and psychological motives, is the reason why loves his career and academic field.
As much as the joy of English content stirs fulfillment within Connelly, there are four concepts that he conceptualizes throughout his day-to-day life.
Patience: Sean Connelly notes that regardless of where a person is in life, “[…] they bring to the classroom a world of experience or inexperience that for the most part I will never know.” This acknowledges that as a professor, he stays mindful of the backgrounds entering a classroom, especially as diverse as a community college such as Chaffey.
Humility: Connelly asserts that in certain ways he is not perfect, just like human nature and students' learning. “If I do some thing that I feel is less than perfect, I have to keep being open to how that is an opportunity for me to learn and grow.”
Within his teaching as a professor and giving advice to undergraduates, he strays from pride, noting that the world is built off of learning new information. As long as he is working with students coming from diverse backgrounds, Connelly notes there is always an opportunity for growth.
Transparency: He notes this communicative point that applies both to personal life and career path. This is lived within the reasoning and understanding of decision-making.
“The more the people around me understand why I am doing what I am doing […], the more we can understand each other and work together.”
Joy: Connelly sees that in a busy life, it is easy to stray away from excitement and gratitude, recognizing the wholesomeness of a career choice, or even waking up and getting a cup of coffee.
“I get so busy […] that I have to […] remind myself to share excitement and gratitude for the many good things I have, at both a very large scale and in the small and mundane moments of my life.”
Connelly has always left me with noteworthy advice, whether it be leaving his office on campus or a thirty minute Zoom session. What I appreciate and respect the most is the willingness he takes to talk to students, whether they appreciate the expansive field of English and in-need of the next steps, or simply need to pass a course.
He understands what it’s like to be a student since he had a different major as an undergraduate. This creates an overall welcoming atmosphere to students in need of guidance that their parents, some professors or even themselves cannot give. With his professionalism in the field of English, he listens to details and takes them into consideration while offering advice. With teaching on the other hand, he keeps in mind that everyone has something to offer while many people are within different areas of life. The connective approach and empathy that's grounded as his foundation applies to the ordinary humanistic experience as a whole; needless to say, it makes an impact on a student's day.