Story and photo
by ELLIANA KOPUT
Mic Denfeld is a writing instructor at Pima Community College’s West Campus.
She’s one of the oldest, most experienced, most lively and compassionate faculty members. She is held near and dear to the hearts of many.
Denfeld leads her classes through a series of assignments that aim to encourage metacognition and personal growth. I sat down to discuss with her to discuss her experiences and inspirations.
Q: How long have you been teaching at Pima and in what area of study?
A: “I teach Writing 101. I’ve been at Pima 27 years. I was a teacher for most of it and a dean for a couple of years. I can even tell you the date… from ‘91 to ‘91, but I always come back to the classroom.”
Q: What inspired you to become a writing teacher?
A: “I just wanted to be a teacher. I started teaching sociology, summer school, at Iowa Wesleyan. And then I said I wanted to go to graduate school, so they said, ‘Go to Western Illinois University.’ They supported that, and I got in and all that. So I taught there while I got my degree, and then I taught again at Iowa State when I got that degree. That’s how I payed for school was I taught. I like the classroom. This age group is developing their prefrontal cortex, which determines how you see yourself and who you are. So it’s an honor to be a part of that process with people.”
Q: Was there a moment in your career that sticks out to you?
A: “I had somebody confess to a murder in class. We were discussing euthenasia, and he said, ‘I killed someone once.’ So we just let him talk, and he said he was a medic. And they were on the battlefield. His platoon, it was hit by a shell and almost severed his body, practically severed in half, but he was alive. He was screaming, ‘Kill me! Kill me!’ And so he crawled out there under fire and gave him a lethal shot of morphine. The class was stunned. There was just silence. Just silence, and then, and I said, ‘Everybody makes the best decisions they can in every situation they’re in.’ When the students left the class that day, they went by and just touched his shoulder. It was like he had the resolution he needed and sort of the absolving of him.”
Q: Are there moments in time that you feel your being a teacher affects your daily life?
A: “Always because that’s my training … to teach someone something. We used to play school when I was a kid. I guess that’s where I got it. And I liked to write on the boards, and now I do that, too. I like to learn. I read every day of my life. I love books, as you can see by my collection. And I even just donated some more. I’m addicted to learning. I know that. I have to. I have to be learning. And it can be almost anything, but I go from this to that to that to this to whatever because it’s interesting. Then I find things to talk about or think about. Being conscious is just so awesome. Look what we’re given … a chance to be conscious people with an experience over many years. We get to do this. It’s just incredible.”
Q: Can you tell me about where and when you were born? How your upbringing was?
A: “A long, long time ago … I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Adopted by some parents. I almost died when I was born, so they kept me in the orphanage for about six months. And then they put me up for adoption. Then I got the absolute parents I needed because, well, they only had seventh- and eighth-grade educations. They were thinkers, and I got to participate in all of that… ‘What do you think? What do you think?’
“I like the snow and the trees. When I die I’m gonna be a tree, because now you can get cremated and be a tree. Which I think is endlessly cool. I was raised in the outdoors we were always fishing or doing something outdoors up in the woods. That’s still the place I go to just refresh my whole self. Mount Lemmon, ahhhh, beautiful.
“I’m a Green Bay Packer fan, of course. Go Pack! And Go Cats!”
Q: What’s your favorite Packers’ game you’ve been to?
A: “When we beat the Vikings. They had a big goose egg at the end, and we had all the points. Yes! It’s a chance to yell and scream and holler and be happy and be sad and be grumpy with the referees when you don’t like what they do.”
Q: Outside of education, what are some of your primary values?
A: “I think the golden rule is the one that is just it. If we all did that, we’d be in good shape. Do unto others as you would do unto you, blah blah blah. I value honesty, I value love. I love so many things, people and animals and trees and water and the ocean. Oh God, I love the ocean.
“I love to travel. Everywhere. I’ve been to so many places because I don’t save any money to retire, which is why I’m still teaching. But between my book habit and travel habit, I want to go see and meet people. The people of the world are so cool. And so helpful, and so wonderful. And there’s so many things to see. I left part of my heart in Alaska a couple of years ago. Oh my God. The Northwest Glacier is 700 feet tall. We were in a boat. You have to back from the glacier itself, but it was majestic. It was so amazing, oh my God. And then I went kayaking, and then I flew over to the island and got to walk around where the bears were. There was a bear like from me to you, sleeping. We saw a mama bear with cubs running around. She was trying to teach them something. They were paying no attention, of course. It’s the same, every species. I love art. I will see any art museums I can see. I love music, all kinds of it. When I hear music, I have to move. I don’t care where I am. I’m gonna be moving around to the beat. Grocery stores particularly. You can tell the people who want to do it, but they can’t allow themselves to make a fool of themselves by dancing in the aisles of the grocery store. I can’t help it.”
Q: What’s one thing you would say to those people?
A: “C’mon! Dance! We’re so structured and something-ed about ourselves. You can be as free as you wanna be.”
Q: Is there anything else about yourself or otherwise that you would like to have the world know?
A: “Did you know that I’m the queen of the hobos? There’s a hobo convention in Britt, Iowa, every year in August. They elect a king and queen by applause; they have a parade.
“We ate mulligan stew, which is a stew hobos eat where you throw everything in a pot. Whatever you have goes in … and you feed all these people mulligan stew. I haven’t gone very much recently, usually because I’m traveling in the summer. That happens, and I gotta get back to school. But I’ve had it five years in a row, which is the most anybody’s ever done. You take a hobo name. I was made a hobo by BoxCar Myrtle, and my hobo name is LongLooker Mic. Because I love to travel, I love to hitchhike with truckers. They’re fun to ride with. It’s just fun to meet people hitchhiking because they’re neat. People say, ‘Aren’t you afraid?’ but I’m not dumb. I’m not gonna get in the car unless I feel comfortable. If I need to get out of the car, I know how, and all those kinds of things. But I’m not afraid of people. I like people. They tell you their life story ’cause they’re never gonna see you again.”
Q: How would you conjure up your experiences into a few words of advice?
A: “Live until you die. Don’t die before your time. People stop adventuring. They stop being amazed. They stop learning. They stop, and then they wait to die. I think that’s boring. I don’t believe in all organized religion things. I believe I’m here, and I get a chance with however many years I have to make the most of it and have fun. It should be a place to have fun. We make it so tough, my gosh. Aw, c’mon. Lighten up, lighten up.”