Meet Jason Davis. Jason serves as an adjunct instructor at Western Piedmont Community College, Mayland Community College, and Mitchell Community College for the past two years. He really loves teaching sociology to traditional and non-traditional students. He also had the opportunity to teach two semesters of sociology at a local prison in Morganton and plans to return in the Spring. This was an awesome experience which has inspired Jason to keep teaching to anyone willing to learn.
While Jason is an instructor at several community colleges today, he was a student not too long ago at App State. He first got his Associate's degree at West Piedmont Community College. Then, he transferred to Appalachian State and graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology and a minor in English in 2012. Still thirsting for more education, he earned his Masters of Arts in Higher Education and a Sociology Graduate Certificate in 2014. Here's what he said about his education trajectory and inspiration gathered from App State:
When I went back to school, a community college, I was nervous and still unsure as to why or what I was going to do with my degree when or if I got it. As an older student, I found it easier to see the importance and relativity of the information I was learning. I wanted to learn and I enjoyed it. After receiving my AA, I transferred to ASU. The teachers that made the most difference for me showed extreme passion for their subject as well as, what seemed like, boundless energy and enthusiasm for sharing their knowledge. I wanted to be that driven, that motivated, that passionate about something as well. I wanted to know their secret. Their zeal and energy absorbed into me and rekindled a spark that has now grown into a full-fledged fire.
Although Jason has been doing what he loves, his goal is to teach full time at a community college and share with students the required tools, passion and motivation needed for them to be life-long learners. Jason also wants his students to graduate, to make that step from student to expert, and to become competent and autonomous. He hopes to to instill in any student the desire to seek knowledge for knowledge's sake and most important, to think for themselves. As Jason states, he really believes that sociology is the key to meeting his goals and helping students:
Sociology is a subject that is steeped in personal reflection, objective understanding, and deep, deep, thinking. The breadth of the subject is infinite and the beauty of its essence is realized in an understanding that having knowledge on how and why society operates, leads to a rich and fuller understanding of one’s self.
On behalf of the Sociology Department, we congratulate Jason on his endeavors and are here to root you on to your next big goal!
If Jason's story inspires and speaks to your goals through education, then please contact the Department of Sociology for more information about our undergraduate and graduate certificate programs.
Jason Davis
