{"id":1713,"date":"2019-05-16T09:09:51","date_gmt":"2019-05-16T13:09:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/?p=1713"},"modified":"2019-05-17T10:12:58","modified_gmt":"2019-05-17T14:12:58","slug":"walk-the-path-of-derek-hinckley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/2019\/05\/16\/walk-the-path-of-derek-hinckley\/","title":{"rendered":"Walk the Path of Derek Hinckley ’09"},"content":{"rendered":"

42\u00b049’11.7″N 75\u00b032’11.1″W: Colgate University<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Derek
Photo courtesy of MDCC\/Mississippi Delta Community College<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a Colgate student, Derek Hinckley \u201909 had a plan: He was majoring in political science<\/a> to prepare for a law career and envisioned himself excelling in a high-powered position. Hinckley minored in creative writing<\/a> and found a mentor in Professor Jennifer Brice, but writing didn\u2019t fit into his vision of the future.<\/p>\n

Before applying to law school, Hinckley had one more interest to explore: Teach for America. He wanted to add another item to his resume and, deep down, he \u201chad a desire to do something outside of the expected trajectory of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

33\u00b030’01.3″N 90\u00b010’06.4″W: Amanda Elzy High School, Greenwood, Miss.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2009, Teach for America sent Hinckley to the Greater Delta region. \u201cI\u2019d never lived in the South before, so there was a steep learning curve, understanding and navigating the local culture,\u201d he recalls. In addition to the culture shock, Hinckley was challenged by his new position. It wasn\u2019t just his first year teaching English to high school students \u2014 it was his first year teaching, period. But by year two, he\u2019d found a rhythm and a community \u2014 including his soon-to-be wife, Elizabeth, a math teacher.<\/p>\n

When his Teach for America assignment concluded, Hinckley knew he wanted to continue teaching \u2014 and was interested in higher education. Remembering that Brice had attended the University of Alaska, he spoke to her and decided to apply to its MFA program for creative writing.<\/p>\n

64\u00b051’22.8″N 147\u00b049’16.2″W: University of Alaska, Fairbanks<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the University of Alaska, Hinckley honed his crafts. In addition to having his first piece published in Creative Nonfiction, he developed his teaching pedagogy. \u201cI reconsidered many of my beliefs about teaching and writing,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

While in Alaska, Hinckley also learned more about the environment; he and his wife even lived in a dry cabin (no running water).<\/p>\n

After earning his MFA, he worked as a remote adjunct professor, both at University of Alaska and Mississippi Delta Community College, while being a stay-at-home dad with their new daughter. When his wife received a job offer back in Greenwood, memories of the community they created in the deep South spurred.<\/p>\n

33\u00b030’50.7″N 90\u00b011’55.9″W: City of Greenwood Recycling Center, Mississippi<\/strong><\/p>\n

While waiting for a full-time higher education opportunity, Hinckley decided to try something new. He used the conservation knowledge he learned in Alaska to direct Greenwood\u2019s recycling program for a year. It allowed him to both help his community and create meaningful connections with residents.<\/p>\n

33\u00b026’39.2″N 90\u00b030’14.0″W: Mississippi Delta Community College, Greenwood<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although his Teach for America service was intended as a bridge to law school, it instead brought him back to the start.<\/p>\n

Nine years later, Hinckley is now an English instructor, teaching composition classes that incorporate his love of literature and creative writing. He says the most rewarding part of his work is exposing students to new ideas. \u201cIn an academic setting and in [other areas] of our lives, we\u2019re asked to give the appropriate response, but we\u2019re not asked to think about why that is the appropriate response. I ask [my students] those questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because many in the Mississippi Delta come from an impoverished background, Hinckley also has to consider more personal questions regarding his students. \u201cIt\u2019s important to be aware of where your students are coming from to meet their needs effectively.\u201d<\/p>\n

The challenges of teaching high-risk students in an area that is desperate for good teachers could drive others away, but for Hinckley, it\u2019s the glue that holds him there. \u201cWe could just walk away,\u201d he says, \u201cbut we would leave a lot behind.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now a college English instructor in the Deep South, Derek Hinckley \u201909 started his career with Teach for America. Find out all the stops he made in between. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1222,"featured_media":1962,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,297],"tags":[375,52,376,54,293,214],"coauthors":[168],"class_list":["post-1713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-alumni-updates","category-road-taken","tag-education","tag-engl","tag-english","tag-environment","tag-political-science","tag-posc"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/palXSH-rD","amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/05\/derek-hinckley.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1222"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1713"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2102,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1713\/revisions\/2102"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1713"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}