My name is Michelle Ast. I’m the former Assistant Coordinator for Butler of McConnell,  and I teach Reading, Writing, and Research for the Humanities Department at Butler Community College. As educators, we want all students to be successful. My husband, son, and daughter are all college students, struggling with not only typical learning challenges but also the impediments the nation's pandemic has brought to their collegial learning processes. I learn much from them that make me a better teacher.  Those who know me outside of work may think that attending college is a family hobby. Of course I like school. What teacher doesn't? Though I'm not sure my family enduring the stresses of an impending final exam week would agree that school is enjoyable, the value of a college education is clear to all of us.