 Sharlene Hesse-Biber
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In the first class of the semester, a classroom of students anxiously awaits the arrival of their professor. Inquiring minds pass the time considering the variety of possibilities that are moments away. How will their new professor look and act? Will she be strict or laid back? Friendly or reserved? Hard or easy? Weird? Crazy? Boring? Amusing? The series of questions contemplated stretch the imagination's limits until the doorknob turns, the door swings open, and reality is finally confronted.
In strolls a tall, cheery, bright blue-eyed woman with unruly blond hair. Restless students abandon all previous thoughts, anticipating their first impression. With a captivating presence, Sharlene Hesse-Biber entered the classroom and her students' lives. The energy with which we were greeted was accompanied by one peculiar request: to join her in a tap dance. Students nervously eyed one another. Was she serious, they wondered? Indeed she was, and finally one brave student joined Hesse-Biber center stage.
All bets were off. This woman was truly something special. Students, faculty, colleagues, friends, could not agree more.
Sociology professor Hesse-Biber is a remarkable teacher whose ideals are rooted in her past and profoundly shaped by the circumstances of her early life. A New Yorker to the core, Hesse-Biber was forced to grow up quickly as a girl from "the other side of the tracks" of Staten Island. Her values were deeply affected by her position as the daughter of a single mother from the working class. She learned early on to, "work hard and be innovative," a message she has carried with her throughout her life and continues to pass on. With a single income to provide for a family of six, Hesse-Biber recalls having to creatively "work with what they had." These ideals were the product of her mother's influence, from which she received a great "sense of empowerment" and a responsibility to not only her family, her education, and herself, but also to those around her.
Hesse-Biber recalled feelings of isolation in regard to her identity as a lower class female, a reality that gave her the drive to overcome and embrace her upbringing. She vividly described a seventh grade science project that gave her the opportunity to take an intellectual risk "and do things she didn't think were possible."
Working alongside her peers and passionate teacher, they advanced to the science fair. "A very big deal," she said, where the boundaries of her social class were made most evident. Their presence was unwelcome, and their talent was underestimated. However, the students were rewarded for their merit and Hesse-Biber developed a sense of pride and the courage to pursue social action to better the disadvantaged youth of her community.
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