Leslie Neal, M.S., teaches Speech and Interpersonal Communication courses at Montcalm Community College. She joined the college full time in 2017 and serves as the Communications Department chair.
She graduated from Grand Valley State University with a Bachelor of Science in Communication Studies in 2006. She earned her Master of Science in Communication Studies in 2009 and started her teaching career as a part-time communications instructor at Grand Rapids Community College.
Neal said the structural base for her classroom follows the Chinese proverb, “Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand.”
“Once I gained the understanding that effective communication develops confidence and increases comfort levels with expressing ideas and knowledge clearly, I decided that teaching in higher education would be the best way for me to share my awareness with others,” she said.
She chose the career of a college educator because she believes that it is an avenue that allows her, as an individual, to impact society as a whole.
She and her spouse are raising two children in the Grand Rapids area. They like to travel wherever the wind takes them. She has traveled out of the country more than 25 times and her favorite place she has visited is Kenya.
Here are some other fun facts about Leslie:
- Her family has a guinea pig, two newts, and an eight-year-old goldfish from Meijer.
- She is the middle child, but only girl in her family.
- She changed her major from Journalism while in undergrad because she didn't like all the rules that were required for writing.
- She is left-handed.
- She was born on July 4.