Nontraditional: Life Lessons From A Community College

by Nan Kuhlman

Many of Nan Kuhlman's students came to community college looking for a second chance. So did she.

Nan Kuhlman reworked her plans for her career--and her life--several times to support the needs of her family. Then a chance encounter gives her another chance to pursue her dream of teaching college students. Kuhlman begins teaching writing classes at her local community college where many of the students are "nontraditional"--returning service members, laid off factory workers, and a range of other people who never thought they might be "college material."

In this collection of linked essays, Kuhlman introduces us to her students, the lessons she taught... and the lessons she learned along the way.

214 pages, Paperback

Published April 8, 2020

Reviews

[Francesca Forrest · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a special interest in this short memoir as I've worked with nontraditional students too. Nan Kuhlman braids her encounters with various students into the story of her own progress through different jobs and life stages. The writing is clear and unassuming: you can feel her thoughtful appreciation for the students without there being a whole lot of drama or much moralizing--just brief reflections on what she feels their stories say about life, or what she learned from the interactions. She's modest about her own/her family's perspectives, though you learn certain things, like that she homeschooled her kids and that her husband eventually leaves a high-paying job to pursue a religious calling.

I recognized the students and felt so much warmth for them. Everyone has something to teach others, and Nan Kuhlman honors that in this book.

[Natalie Waddell-Rutter · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a series of vignettes interspersed with Kuhlman's personal story leading up to becoming an adjunct professor. Her story provided a framework on which to lay interesting stories of her students. Kuhlman provided quite a bit of variety in her stories, both in terms of the types of students she discussed and the point of the story. She didn't just provide stories with happy endings, either. Instead, we got a mix of students who were able to succeed and students who didn't. Regardless of the end result, the stories were interesting. While Kuhlman said she tried to anonymize the students for privacy sake, don't worry that she made them bland and interchangeable. Each student had enough detail on their actions in (and often out of) class and their background so I could picture them in my head as I read. As an adjunct myself, I could put myself in Kuhlman's place numerous time, although I don't think I'd have the patience to read so many beginning essays.