Judy Marasco

Professor

“Just try to imagine this: If you were living overseas and had to write and do everything in another language, how would you feel about it?”

“It’s a little overwhelming, actually,” says a slightly frazzled Judy Marasco about her new full-time position at SMC. “It’s a heavy workload because of all the papers I have to read.” But heavy work is something that Judy is quite used to: She did, after all, learn to speak Chinese. “I went to China back in the mid 80s to teach at a university and wound up teaching at a UCLA think tank. And then I returned just to work on my Chinese language skills. So I know what my students are going through because I never felt like I quite mastered it.”

Referring to the Chinese language as “the Great Puzzle,” Judy says the puzzlement of English is no less daunting for students from afar. “But these students have to move out of their sheltered, same-language groups. They have to interact more with Americans or other English speakers to be able to absorb as much of the culture and language as they can while they’re with us. It takes real openness and dedication to do this,” she adds. “But the rewards are enormous.”

And Judy offers a challenge to her ESL students at SMC. “I’ve got some people who have sort of been sliding through the lower levels of their English classes,” she says. “But they won’t get past me! It’s hard to be in that position, but what we’re all about here is getting students truly prepared for four-year institutions. And with all the resources and counseling services we offer students, there’s just no way that—with a little hard work—our students can’t successfully reach their goals.”

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