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HCC Instructor Linda Caldwell Receives 40 Year Service Award

Haywood Community College Office Administration instructor Linda Caldwell was recently honored with a 40 year service award for her career at the college. Throughout the years, she has witnessed a lot of changes and growth on campus. Growing up, Caldwell enjoyed playing school and had a dream of one day being a teacher. She has also always enjoyed typing. Joining the two together has paved the way for her to achieve her goals and realize that dreams do come true.

Caldwell knew the college’s first president, M.C. Nix while he was a teacher at Bethel. One day Nix visited her home to recruit both her and her brother to come to the new community college. After finishing high school, the college had been open only a few years and Caldwell decided to attend the school’s Executive Secretarial program. As a student, she began as a work study in the Wood Products Department. After graduating in 1969, Caldwell got a full-time job at the school.

The Wood Products building was the first building on the college’s Jones Cove campus. She watched the whole campus being built.

Caldwell describes the process over the years of going from a manual typewriter to the addition of carbon copy, colored liquid paper, duplicators, and lift off tabs to electric typewriters, memory typewriters, and best of all a computer.

“If you needed 60 copies of a letter, you had to create all 60 copies from scratch,” she explains. “I remember how exciting it was to get the electric typewriter. Then when we got the memory typewriter, we went over the edge. But getting the first computers was a different tale. We were so scared of it, that our fingers had to be pried off the typewriters!”

In May 1973, Caldwell became the secretary for the Business Education Department under James Roy Moody. She recalls having typing contests with him. Having the highest speed on campus, a record she still holds, she beat him at the contests repeatedly. “One day I realized that since he was my boss, I had better let him win sometimes.”

Caldwell still has timed typing tests for her students, never telling them that she can type 128 words per minute. “One day I know someone will come through here that will beat me,” Caldwell says. “This past semester is the closest any of the students have come.”

In 1984, an instructor became sick and Caldwell was asked to teach in their place. She taught night classes for 25 years. One night she recalls Ila Knight, southern gospel songwriter, starting her class to learn to type a songbook. Since then, Knight has sold thousands of copies of her music.

Caldwell’s most heartfelt memory was teaching a whole night class of people who lost their jobs from Dayco. “I have never seen a group with such a strong work ethic,” she explains. “They taught me the value of a job. They turned a negative into a positive.  I always end up learning more from my students than they learn from me.”

In 1996, Caldwell became secretary for the Business, Health, and Human Services Division. She held this position until 2003 when she became a full-time instructor.

“When I learned I was a full-time instructor, I pinched myself,” she said. “I am living a dream.”

Caldwell says one of the changes over the years is the transition to more online classes. Being a people person, she misses seeing the students. This is also true in the workplace. Instead of talking face-to-face with coworkers across campus, it’s much easier to shoot them an email.

Caldwell realizes that she teaches one of the most important skills that a person can learn in this age of technology. “This is a necessity now. The faster you type, the faster you can communicate with the world. It is one of the most needed skills in the workplace for everybody.”

And it’s also something everybody can learn. She has taught students from the age of 16 to 88. “It is such a blessing to see someone who has never used a computer to be typing along,” she says. “It’s important for students to know they can do anything they set their mind to. You’re never too old to learn.”

At HCC, Caldwell is also co-advisor for Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and a member of the HCC Alumni Steering Committee. She received an Excellence in Teaching Award for two years, ’08 and ’09. She has been a member of the NC Association of Office Professionals since 1985. Caldwell is also very active in the community. She is a member of the Red Hat Society, Hazelwood Baptist Church Food Committee, Pigeon Valley Memorial Day Committee, and is chair person of the Bethel Cemetery Committee.

Caldwell says coworkers from HCC are like family to her. “I will always have a place for HCC,” she says. “The college has helped so many people. I have made lifelong friends here and made such good memories.”

But Caldwell has no plans to retire. “When you love what you do, it doesn’t seem like work. It is really rewarding to be in a job where you can make a difference. I see people everywhere I go that I have taught and they tell me how going to school has changed their lives. The students are number one. That’s what it’s all about. I thank them for giving me the opportunity to show them a skill.”

Caldwell says growing up, both her parents loved going to work. It was their passion. Now teaching at HCC is hers. She says her parents and husband have been so supportive and she owes them a lot of gratitude.

“I thank God for giving me blessings to see my career goals and dreams come true,” Caldwell says. “My cup runneth over. I am so blessed. I am fortunate to see the growth Haywood Community College has experienced and hope it continues.”

Haywood Community College Office Administration instructor Linda Caldwell was recently honored with a 40 year service award for her career at the college. Throughout the years, she has witnessed a lot of changes and growth on campus.

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