Life outside the norm

LOVE Reporter @randi_love29

Entering a classroom filled to its capacity, Professor Charles Levy begins the lecture by posing the question, “What is sociology?” to his students.

After a brief pause he starts the lesson without missing a beat.

Levy began his professional career 20 years ago, of which the last 13 were spent at Pierce College.

“I began [teaching at Pierce] in 2003 and I really love it here,” Levy said. “The students are responsive and have a lot to say. It’s been a great experience.”

While Levy’s enthusiasm for the field appears to be second nature, it was by chance that he stumbled upon sociology.

It was his first year of college at San Diego State University. Levy stood alongside 40 to 50 other students who were trying to crash the same psychology course when someone told him of an open sociology class downstairs.

Driven by mild curiosity and the need to fill unit requirements, Levy went to see if the tip off was true.

“It was my first sociology class and it ruined it all because that was where I got stuck,” Levy mused. “I couldn’t get out of it.”

There Levy met Professor Nicos Mouratides, a 70-yearold concentration camp survivor “who paced the lecture hall while shouting at the top of his lungs” about Marxism and sociological philosophies.

“It was like one of those coming to faith moments,” Levy said. “I knew in that moment what I wanted to be.”

Using a framework similar to Mouratides’s, Levy encourages class debates and will often ask them hard open ended questions to stir discussions. Some say his method as unconventional. Levy feels it is a way of enlightening students.

Professor Melissa Gulick is an instructor of philosophy and critical thinking at Pierce College. As his colleague, Gulick witnesses Levy’s enthusiasm first hand.

“Students walk away falling in love with sociology and that’s something I can say with confidence [about Levy],” Gulick said. Levy’s “passion” and “charisma” are traits his students have noticed as well. Freshmens Roy Armin and Mario Patrick are taking Levy for the first time.

“Levy’s super funny and quirky,” Armin said. “He has a teenage girl living inside him.” make them and life gets really hard if you can’t laugh at your mistakes.”

For Patrick, the appeal of seeing the society in a new light was grounds for seeing the course through to the end.

“The fact that he said that it would change our perspective of the world is why I stayed in the class,” Patrick said.

Professor Robert Wonser, who has worked with Levy since 2008, believes it is Levy’s witty personality and devotion to the field that sets him apart the rest.

These words are the foundation on which Carlen builds the framework for his classes. Whether the students are returning with a black belt or working toward a green belt, they have all adopted their instructors calm mindset.

Mea Lane, a student of Carlen’s, has been training with him for ten years. Under his instruction Lan has received a first and second degree black belt.

“He has infinite patience and the ability to reach each student with their learning style. He can find a way to get everybody to understand and to perform at their best,” said Lane. While self-defense can be seen as the superficial reason to learning a martial art, Carlen’s classes have a clinical benefit.

Bob Lofrano has been the athletic director for Pierce College since 1990. An avid sportsman himself, Lofrano stresses the importance of staying active.

“Get outside and move around. Take a swim class, take a weight training class. It’s very important to move your body,” Lofrano said. “Just to get out of the classroom.” Carlen continues to teach in a positive manner, whether it be at Pierce College or in the dojo. His hope is to inspire his students the same way former instructors have inspired him.

“You are capable of far more than you think you are,” Carlen said. “Almost everybody is.”