MCLA biology professor Ann Billetz reflects on a difficult first semester of college, the mentors who encouraged her to continue, and her decision to pursue teaching. She shares how those experiences shape her support for students today.
Professor Ann Billetz joins Dr. Dennis Rebelo to discuss her path from growing up in Akron, Ohio, to teaching biology at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA), where she also coordinates the Berkshire STEM Network and serves as faculty athletic representative.
As an only child who loved reading science fiction and fantasy, Ann entered Walsh College planning to become an optometrist, but after skipping classes and struggling academically during her first semester, she considered leaving college altogether. Encouraged by her then-boyfriend, now husband, and her parents, she returned for another semester, attended classes consistently, studied more, set boundaries, and saw her grades improve.
Supportive professors later invited her to become a teaching assistant, an experience that led her to consider teaching, and an advisor at Cleveland State University encouraged her to continue beyond a master's degree to a PhD. Ann then spent three years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute, where she enjoyed the laboratory work but missed the collaboration and direct contact with students she had experienced in graduate school.
She explains how that realization helped her choose a career centered on teaching and how her own early academic difficulties allow her to reassure students that one unsuccessful semester does not define them. At MCLA, she supports student-athletes as a liaison between academics and athletics and describes how early clinical observation placements help freshmen and sophomores test their interests before committing further to a career path.
She also discusses the importance of approachable faculty, tutoring and academic support resources, and making students comfortable asking for help, particularly when college is unfamiliar to them.
Reflecting on what she wants to be known for, Ann says she hopes students remember that she helped them achieve their goals, and she describes keeping her office open for conversation, encouragement, and even a little chocolate.
Links:
Ann Billetz faculty profile:
https://dev.mcla.edu/about-mcla/faculty/ann-billetz/
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts:
https://www.mcla.edu/
Berkshire STEM Network:
https://mcla.mass.edu/mcla-in-the-community/berkshire-stem-network/index.php
Berkshire Health Systems:
https://www.berkshirehealthsystems.org/
Berkshire Innovation Center:
https://www.berkshireinnovationcenter.com/
Narrative Research Group:
https://narrativeresearchgroup.org/