California and Oregon are not as different as most people believe, according to a new English teacher Edward de Val.

De Val taught at San Francisco University before deciding that the Bay Area wasn’t his city. “[It’s] really congested, real expensive, the [Golden Gate] Bridge toll is five dollars. On a teacher’s salary, it’s just impossible to live there.”

He and his wife, a teacher at Portland Community College, took “a risk” and moved to Oregon with no jobs but only the hope for a better and more affordable community.

“My wife managed to get a part-time job and I commuted between San Francisco and Portland for a semester. In spring 2003, I flew back and forth and stayed at my ex-mother-in-law’s place and borrowed her car.”

After earning several frequent flier miles, de Val was hired at Clackamas Community College but left to accept the full-time position at MHCC. He said that the community aspect of where he was going to live and work was very important to him and his wife.

“We love San Francisco but it’s just so expensive, so we left. We wanted a similar community and Portland felt like that.”

De Val will be teaching WR90 and WR115 classes and aims to give students the confidence in their writing and reading skills.

The conversion from the SFSU’s semester to MHCC’s quarter system did present a problem at first. “[A] 10-week system is not enough time for the [student] population] to digest everything. [In San Francisco], we had 15 week-long semesters with the same credit hours and the same kind of course.” De Val said he will need to look for additional resources like the Learning Assistant Center for extra help with students.

While he settles into his new position, de Val thinks about the impact he wants to have on students. “[I want them] to feel more confidence as a writer cause I think a lot of my students that come into WR90 lack confidence their writing. They haven’t received instruction in the past or because of the lack funding in the high schools. I want them to feel like they’re getting it.”