In an interview with Mr. Fuglsang’s Introduction to Journalism class, Professor Gonsler tells all about his journey from student to professor.
Professor John Gonsler started his journey to higher education at Farris State University but transferred after one year to Michigan State University where he completed his bachelor’s degree. Soon after graduating, he moved back to his hometown of Flint, Michigan where he began his professional career as a public law enforcement officer for two years.
After two years in public law enforcement, he decided that this career wasn’t the place for him siting that public law enforcement was corrupt and his station was “Dirtier than a pig’s dick” Gonsler shared a story that the sheriff of his department had framed one of their sergeants that had been working for the department for 30 years. “I was still interested in criminals and crime, but I did not want to be a police officer.”
From that point, he worked for six months as a Corrections officer for a maximum-security prison. Gonsler went into detail describing the gruesome stories from his time at the prison. One prisoner had an affinity for collecting dead baby birds and keeping them as pets. This prisoner even went as far as putting them in a hot pot stating that they “needed a bath.”
Gonsler then decided to further his college education and went back to school to pursue a bachelor’s degree in anthropology. Before coming to Morningside, Gonsler taught as an associate instructor at Mott University.
At this point, Gonsler needed to decide what he wanted to do for a job from this point forward. When making this decision he asked himself a series of questions. “It was one of those what do I like? What do I want? And what do I not like?”
In 2011 he began thinking about becoming a college professor. Gonsler applied for two jobs. He stated that “Morningside was one of two colleges that were starting up a criminal justice department.” This made it an easy decision for him.
When asked about what his goals are for the students in his classes Gonsler stated that he simply wanted them to learn about what they liked and what they do not like “I teach them about themselves.” As a professor Gonsler hopes to be a culmination of all his favorite teachers and professors throughout his life.
After only three semesters here at Morningside University, Gonslers states that his favorite thing about being a professor is teaching the introduction classes and having the summers off. “I like that people are taking classes that they may not need to and yet still finding some value in it.”
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