Dr. Helen Benjamin takes one final tour of the Contra Costa Community College District’s campuses as the district’s chancellor, leaving behind empowered educators and inspired students.  After 27 years at the college district, 12 years of those years as chancellor, Benjamin prepares for retirement.

Benjamin has a way of using her own life experiences to relate to and identify with any issues. For instance, when I talked with her, expressing my concerns as a current community college student as well as a minority student, she extended reassurance and a great deal of encouragement.

“All of my school experiences have shaped who I have become as an educator. I don’t know that I was really conscious of it as I was doing it,” Benjamin says. “I just looked at the options before me and what I had seen in terms of professionals who looked like me, and those were teachers.”

As chancellor, the aim is to ensure the highest quality learning experience for current and future students. The chancellor’s office motto says learning happens through “creative leadership, committed and valued employees, effective services, sufficient funding, and an environment of respect, mutual trust and open communication.”

Mojdeh Mehdizadeh, President of Contra Costa Community College says, “I met Helen over two decades ago. One of the things that really struck me was just how incredibly hard-working she was. I mean she was on it.”

Benjamin entered college in Texas, where she graduated magna cum laude and earned her master’s and doctoral degrees from Texas Woman’s University in Denton. Her career began as Dean of Language Arts and Humanistic Studies and Related Occupations at Los Medanos Community College.

She has served as the the chair of the Community College League of California Board of Directors, chair of the CEO board, vice chancellor of educational services at the district office, and many other positions throughout her career.

Mehdizadeh says, “She is someone that I have watched over the years and certainly have looked up to as a mentor and have certainly learned a considerable amount from.”

The CCCCD offers a study abroad program that allows students the opportunity to study overseas.  Benjamin noticed that no students from Contra Costa College had participated in the study abroad program.

Mehdizadeh says, “much of it has to do with the socioeconomic status of the student population, and she went out of her way to develop a scholarship program which she provided a considerable sum of the funding for.” Two students from Contra Costa College have been able to to go through the study abroad program as a result. This is “truly amazing because both of those students had never even been out of their immediate city.  She truly changes student’s lives.”

Kayla Robinson: What made you decide to become a teacher?

Helen Benjamin: Well, in my situation the only professionals that I knew, who looked like me, were teachers. I went to school every day and I was in all black schools and so the professionals in my life were educated.  So when I got to college and was faced with choosing a major and I looked at the list, I said well, I want to be a teacher. And then you had to choose what you wanted to teach and I chose English.   That’s how I got started.

KR: Should students decide their major first before going to college?

HB: I think it depends on the individual.  The world in which I grew up and made those decisions about what profession I wanted is so different from the world now. Because you could just be broadly educated, you can have a bachelor’s degree and sometimes go in many different directions.  Forty years ago, when I was making those decisions, if you got a degree in English, you were pretty limited in what you could do.  But the world is such a different place with the advancement of technology in every single field that I think there are more options for students.  People tell students to follow a passion, but you need to know what your passion is.  Many times at 18, 19, 20, you have no idea what that is.  So it depends on the individual and where that person is in terms of his (or her) thinking.  Sometimes students aren’t even at the level of maturity to even think about having a permanent job or working full time.  So they take their time, they take some courses and kind of try to figure out what they want to do.  Then some know exactly what they want to do: “I want to be an engineer, what do I have to do to be an engineer?” Then on the other hand some say, “Well, I like to read, I like to write, I like working with numbers, I’ll take a little math, I’m not sure what kind of job…” You know? So it just depends.

KR: Any other advice for students?

HB: It’s really important for students to do well in school. But I think it’s also important for them to enjoy school- enjoy their courses, enjoy their lives, and not be so committed or so involved in getting their education that they don’t have fun.  That’s an important part of development as well.  I never stressed to my own children that I wanted them to make all A’s because I wanted them to be what I considered whole- having the ability to get along with people. You don’t live in a world by yourself, you live in a world with other people.  That’s why in colleges we offer all kinds of experiences to students  so that we educating the whole person.  My advice to students is to take advantage of all that the college experience has to offer, not only academically and intellectually but socially as well. It’s all about you in terms of making yourself the best person you can be and it’s about service to other people.