Chris Jenkins

Student

“It’s taken me some time to appreciate it, but I love being a student. It’s not a chore. It’s a responsibility to both myself and others.”

The good news. Positive outcomes. The team spirit. That’s what Chris Jenkins is all about. And if he were a preacher, he’d be a formidable one. But the ‘pulpit’ Chris envisions occupying in his future is not a religious one. “I have the ambition to make a positive difference in people’s lives, so I’d like to run for public office some day,” he reports. “And I don’t think community colleges like SMC get nearly enough recognition and funding for the roles they play. Let’s face it: Not everybody is ready for—or can afford—a four-year college. Places like SMC are the only realistic entry point for a lot of people.”

As Associated Students Director of Student Outreach, Chris is already doing all he can to bring resources to SMC students. “One of the things I do is to interact with alumni to get them interested in our current needs,” says Chris, “and if all goes well, we’ll have a banquet this spring to acknowledge a lot of new people who are making donations to the College.” Chris states, “It’s my responsibility now to give other students information that I didn’t have when I first started out. I feel that if I don’t inform people, I not only hurt them, but I also hurt myself.”

Chris says that among an entire slew of excellent teachers he’s had at SMC, Jim Krusoe is a real standout. “Jim was my English teacher, and the guy is just awesome,” says Chris. “He’s brilliant, and he helped me enormously with my writing. In every single class of his we’d write five or six pages. And at the end of it all, he said to us, ‘Congratulations! You guys have just written a novel,” reports Chris. But then ‘novel’ approaches to teaching are nothing new at SMC.

Back