Lidia Yuknavitch, one of three winners of the 2005 Distinguished Teaching Award, is more than a literature instructor — she is an instructor who wants her students to value change and growth.

When students walk away from Yuknavitch’s class, she wants them to be more self-conscious of where all their ideas are coming from.

Yuknavitch, who has been an instructor at MHCC for four years, was a teacher at San Diego State University for two years before she relocated to the Northwest. She decided to take on the teaching profession after having a lot of trouble during her younger years.
“I was in and out of college a lot. Later, as an adult, I wanted to give something back to the system that helped save me,” said Yuknavitch.

One of the most important aspects of teaching for Yuknavitch is helping students achieve self-worth, something she doesn’t think our culture teaches. She believes students come into the classroom with knowledge from their lives.

“The best teachers bring what they know and meet the students half way. I don’t think that I know more than students,” said Yuknavitch.

All of Yuknavitch’s classes are discussion centered and she tries hard to take real life and tie it into the class. She tries to invent various experiments that allow her students to go outside class and find ways to connect the two.

She hopes her students look at her as someone who takes risks and keeps her imagination alive and changing. She said that if those things stop being true, then “I’ve become a bad teacher.”

Yuknavitch said that winning had layers of emotional reality for her.
“It’s really hard being a teacher because you never know if you are connecting with your students,” Yuknavitch said.

Overall, Yuknavitch said that winning the award isn’t about being the best, but a reminder of how important humility is.