State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (SCF) alumnus Robert Shollar has returned to SCF to teach mathematics. Shollar, who earned his associate in arts degree from SCF, transferred to the University of Florida (UF), where he earned his bachelor’s degree. He later earned his master’s degree at University of West Florida (UWF).
Shollar came to SCF as a student after being in the workforce for several years. He moved to Florida with his family after his father retired, and after working in Bradenton for a couple of years decided to give college a try. SCF was the right choice, he said. It was a nurturing and encouraging environment that allowed him to get comfortable with college.
He said his most important life lesson so far is to accept mistakes and learn from them, which is why he chose to come back to school. “I felt like I was capable of more than what I was doing,” Shollar said. “Who cares how old you are? You can always start fresh. You can do more than you think, and you will get through challenges.”
When Shollar started taking classes at SCF, he started in developmental math and received a lot of support from his professors, which helped him fall in love with math. He said he was always good at math and science, but he wasn’t confident when he came back to school, and his professors here helped him get through that.
“I could tell that they were here to teach math and weren’t just getting up to get paid,” he said. “They wanted to see me succeed. As a student here, I was a person with a name.”
While taking classes at SCF, Shollar thought he would end up in engineering or some other related field, until he started tutoring in the Academic Resource Center. He said he enjoyed tutoring and really got excited when he saw the look on a student’s face when they understood the material.
Before going to UWF, Shollar returned to SCF to teach developmental math as an adjunct instructor, partly because he had such a good experience at SCF and partly to determine whether he liked teaching and wanted to become a math professor. After he earned his master’s degree, he applied to several schools, including SCF.
“I felt really comfortable here. The size is right; the people are right,” Shollar said. “It felt like a natural fit.”
For more information, contact Shollar at Shollar1@SCF.edu or 941-752-5516.