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Judy’s Background
I was born and raised in Rapid City, South Dakota at the
foot of the Black Hills. It was in
high school that I became determined to overcome my shyness so deliberately
enrolled in an acting class where I fell in love with the theatre.
From there it was a short jump to
competitive speech activities in
college.
After graduating from High School I moved to Oklahoma and attended a small, Christian, liberal arts college where I received an Associate of Arts degree. As a junior, I transferred to South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota, where I chose to major in Speech/Theatre and minor in English and History. My intent was to be a high school teacher, but one semester of student teaching was enough for me so I moved on to graduate school at Mankato State University in Mankato, Minnesota and received my Master of Arts degree with a major in Speech Communication and a minor in History.
During my last two years as an undergraduate I was heavily
involved in competitive forensics and I went on to coach during my time at
Mankato State. My first full-time
teaching job was at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, where I taught
several undergraduate and graduate courses and assisted in the coaching of the
forensics team. After three years
at Ball State I moved to Minneapolis and decided to try out the corporate
training environment. For a year I
worked in temporary corporate jobs and taught part time in the evenings.
It was during that year that I became convinced that teaching was my true
vocation and I applied to Inver Hills that next Spring where I was hired
full-time. I’ve been teaching
here ever since.
Why do I teach?
Communicating effectively is one of the most fundamental
activities we engage in and is the one that most often determines our success or
failure in jobs and relationships. Teaching
in this field allows me the pleasure of seeing people change their own behaviors
and thus significantly impact their own lives.
I meet incredibly interesting people from whom I learn a great deal about
how to be a better person. I
can’t imagine a more fun, interesting or fulfilling way to spend my days.
Click here to learn more
about the different classes I teach.
Judy’s Hobbies
My major hobby has turned out to be traveling.
I love meeting new people and seeing new places.
I’ve traveled in the majority of the US states and have made the
obligatory Minnesota trip to Canada.
Most of my travel abroad has been to Europe where I’ve visited England,
Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Holland, Germany, Austria, France, Belgium,
Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Around the Mediterranean I’ve
visited Greece and spent 5 weeks in Turkey. In the South Pacific I've
traveled to Fiji, New Zealand, Australia and Hawaii.
Most recently I traveled to China and I’ve also been
fortunate enough to visit the country of Haiti. This coming Spring of 2008 I'll be
encouraging people to join my colleagues Dave Page and Dave Berger as they
travel to Japan. In Spring of 2009 we are considering a trip to Russia. To learn more about these and
other opportunities for
traveling,
click here.
When I’m not traveling I enjoy going to movies and plays, reading, gardening, baking, and creating things with my hands. I’m actively involved in my church and I love spending time with friends and family.
Contact Judy...
Judy DeBoer
Inver Hills Community College
2500 80 Street East
Inver Grove Heights, MN 55076
judy@judyland.net
Phone: 651.450.8583
Fax: 651.450.8679