Dr. Gerri Adams
e-mail: gadams@wpcc.edu
When I chose to study English as a foreign language back in the fifth grade in my home country Bulgaria, I didn’t know that one day I would be teaching it in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina.
My path to teaching had many turns before I came to WPCC in 2005. After high school, I worked at the American Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria, where I met my husband, Scott, who was serving in the Marine Corps. Upon arriving in North Carolina, I took community college classes before attending Montreat College and then California State University-Dominguez Hills. My educational journey led to a master’s degree in the Humanities, a PhD in Education, and a second master’s degree in English with concentration in Multicultural and Transnational Literatures. I have also completed graduate-level work in Health Education through East Carolina University.
Among the classes I have taught at Western Piedmont are English Composition, African American Literature, Western World Literature, British Literature, Storytelling, Literature of the Theater, Personal Health and Wellness, and Aerobics. Similar to many fellow educators, I have a passion for learning and believe that knowledge can have a transformative power. What grounds me as an educator is cultivating this passion by constantly learning on my own terms as well as empowering students through building confidence, offering encouragement, and developing competence.
I am glad that you have chosen Western Piedmont as part of your path and hope that your time here is marked by pleasant memories, insightful conversations, and mind-expanding experiences in and outside of the classroom.