HoC: Brent Bracamentez
Humans of Chaffey
Photo of Brent Bracamentez.
As a communications major, I know it is important to interview a communications teacher and see how he has gotten here, any tips for the major and what to expect from this field. Brent Bracamentez is a communications professor at Chaffey Community College. When he was in college himself, he took a speech class that stood out to him; in that moment, he fell in love with communications. He elaborates:
“Studying the ways that individuals could present different ideas, different perspectives using different language using different words using different symbols using different behaviors. And sort of studying, you know, all of the ways that being deliberate and focusing on our communication practices and our communication behaviors.”
Seeing how humans express themselves in many ways caught his attention. Communications is not only about speaking, it is about expressing your emotions with body language, tone of voice and actions from yourself and from other people. This was not his only option if he wanted to become a professor; he saw himself teaching English, sociology and film studies. He reads a lot so teaching English would have been an easy transition for him.
As a professor, his goal is to assist every student in each of his courses any way he can. He is a very open person and is willing to help his students succeed in his class. From my experience and from the interview, he is always there for his students when they need him. If they need extra help after class or just to chat, he is there for them. He wants his students to engage with him before, during and after class. He says:
“My favorite part of the job is kind of in a general phrase interacting with students. I just really love you know gauging the way that the material and in my class or my classes apply to students. I'm not expecting students to fall in love with my subject the way that I did, but I really like seeing when students are able to apply the subject to their own lives and, you know, get some reward from it.”
This is his favorite part of his job: he likes it when his students actually learn from the material he teaches, and he hopes for them to apply it to their actual lives. He knows that every student may not enjoy communications, but he tries his best to get every student involved and understand the content. He is there for the student and wants to know them and some of their personal interests. He stated:
“I like learning about students and learning about their varied interests quite a bit. So even if they're not, you know, destined to becoming Communication Studies majors. You know, I really like having conversations with students about the things that really piqued their interest.”
Most of his students may not have the biggest interest in communications, but he tries his best to see what that student wants to do in life and may suggest talking to a professor at Chaffey that knows more about that topic. As long as his students are passionate about something, that puts a smile on his face and gives him motivation as a professor.
He adjusts his teaching style so everyone understands the lesson as to their ability. He realizes that some students find it difficult to learn via textbook and some students are more hands-on. When he was in college, he found it difficult to grasp some of the content his professors tried to teach him. He understands the students sometimes struggle to learn a certain subject.
Regarding his teaching style, he states:
“Not being super rigid about one particular way of communicating with students or not being overly rigid about the ways that I conduct my classes and doing a lot of different things. So, you know, not spending an entire class session and a formal lecture may present a little bit of lecture, go into some discussion, maybe have a bigger discussion after a small group discussion.”
As a former student of his, I have knowledge of how he runs a classroom, and he loves it when his students are talking about the lesson. Some professors don't like talking in the classroom, but he loves it when students are talking to each other. It shows that the students are actually interested in the lesson and they understand it. As time went on, he appreciated being a communication studies professor at Chaffey and is fortunate enough to have a job that relates to his subject. He does not want to stay stagnate, he wants to improve his work as much as he can in order for his students to get a better experience in the classroom.
“You know, I was just able to be in a place where I found something, found a subject that I really gravitated toward and really appreciated."
He states, "So I think that I like what I do, I want to continue doing it and revamping the ways that I do it for the betterment of myself and students, but I'm very appreciative of a job that allows me to read and write and have conversations for a living, feels pretty good.”