By Staff
DOWAGIAC – Looking at his resume today, it's hard to imagine that author Michael D. Collins, Ph.D., struggled academically.
While an undergraduate student at the University of Notre Dame, he made a conscious decision to move from being a C student to an A student.
It was a decision to change his life.
Collins now hopes he can change the lives of other college students by teaching English composition at Southwestern Michigan College.
"I can be a motivator" Collins said of his new faculty position at SMC. "I can explain to my students that I struggled my first two years of college. I take pride in the decision to change my life, but also credit those teachers who saw the potential in me. Without their guidance, I could not have advanced. Early on I made a commitment to give back the gift of learning."
Collins comes to SMC with a distinguished list of credentials.
He received both Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois.
He has written eight internationally-acclaimed works of fiction that have won Notable Books of the Year Awards from the New York Times, Best American Short Story Award, as well as being a finalist for The Booker Prize and Impac Prize.
Collins has taught for more than 10 years in both academia and business.
He has taught undergraduate composition and writing across disciplines along with teaching graduate literature and creative writing at major universities including: The University of Notre Dame, The University of Illinois, The Art Institute of Chicago and Western Washington University.
His first screenplay, "Julia," was released in 2008.
Oscar-winning director John Madden will be directing an adaptation of his novel "The Resurrectionists."
Collins is no stranger to Cass County (which he references by name in "The Keepers of Truth") or Dowagiac.
He has been coming to the area for 10 years as a featured guest at the Dogwood Fine Arts Festival.
He has also lectured to students at Dowagiac Union High School.
"I really like this community," Collins said. "So many people today are fleeing small town America for big cities. I want to do the opposite. We need to reinvest in small town America and my family and I are making a conscious decision to do that."
Collins had other teaching opportunities in the area.
However, his belief in reinvesting in small town America, coupled with his desire to change the lives of young adults, made a community college the right fit.
"Community colleges are underrated when it comes to the quality and value of the education," Collins said. "I learned very quickly during my interviews at SMC that instructors are committed to teaching."
He continued to say that at many four-year schools, faculty are less focused on teaching and more concerned with research – a point he makes in his 2006 book, "Death of a Writer."
Community colleges offer students more individualized attention," Collins said. "I also feel that my life lessons would be best served in a community college environment.
"I understand that students have other things going on in life and school may not be the top priority. I firmly believe that a GPA should not define a student. What I teach and instill in students is the opportunity to re-envision whom and what they are, to leave behind past legacies and focus on the present, while preparing them for the future. I am committed to helping students advance so they will succeed," he said.
Collins, along with Heidi, his wife of 21 years, and four children, ages 6, 4, 3 and 1, will be relocating to Dowagiac this summer from Washington state. SMC's fall semester begins Sept. 2.