Ernest Padilla

Professor

“It’s gratifying to teach at SMC because you can really feel your students getting fired up over learning.”

In the Padilla family there seems to be a genetic gift for making full use of both sides of the brain. “I’m teaching composition and literature at SMC,” says Ernest Padilla, who has a PhD in literature. “But I also teach algebra, pre-algebra, and statistics here which I could never do at a four-year university.” Ernest credits the encouragement of his colleagues for creating a near ideal teaching environment.

“There’s a very collegial thing here that allows people to teach to their strengths, to do what we do with real joy,” he says. “The level of teaching is so tremendous. And then, of course, there are the students themselves,” he continues. “They’re assertive, bright, aggressive people who come to our college. They’re inspiring and impressive to teach.”

Ernest traces his involvement in the dual worlds of math and literature to one of his own teachers. “I was a math major but I had a really excellent composition teacher,” he recalls. “She inspired me to read Thomas Hardy and to do some writing of my own.” And the rest is history.

Ernest is currently inspiring some literary history of his own at SMC. “I’m the publisher of the new SMC Press,” he says. “We’ve done about seven books in the past year and a half. Our emphasis is on third-world people in the U.S., minorities, women and young writers. Any money we make in book sales, we put right back into our students.” Ernest is ably helped in his literary publishing by his daughter, an SMC student. “She does the designs for most of our books,” says the proud father. “She’s getting A’s and B’s in math and the same in her graphics and arts classes.” It’s just the Padilla family way.

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