By Josh Lanier (English)
Ashley Buzzard (English ’08) understands that education is a powerful weapon that can be used to change the world. As a professional in the field of higher education, she has made a career out of helping her students realize their full potential.
Buzzard earned her bachelor’s degree in English at USC Upstate, then continued her education at Clemson University, where she received her Master’s Degree focused on English and Literature. She is currently the Lead Instructor for English 102 at Spartanburg Community College (SCC), as well as Director and Faculty Advisor for Ascend, SCC’s literary magazine.
She was born in Columbia, SC, but she said she grew up everywhere, attending 18 different schools, as her family moved often for her father’s engineering job. She attended Chattanooga State Community College before deciding to finish her four-year degree here at USC Upstate.
One advantage of being an English major at USC Upstate, according to Buzzard, is that undergraduate students get 100% attention, since there is not a Masters program offered at the institution. “As cheesy as it sounds, it kind of changed my life,” she says.
It was at USC Upstate where she found direction, and realized what her educational goals were. “I changed majors so many times,” she said. Eventually, Dr. Don Knight (now retired) was assigned as her advisor. He said, “You’ve only ever made A’s in English, and you should major in English.” It was later Dr. Knight who encouraged her to teach at the community college level.
“I love the students here at SCC, and I love that many of them will go to USC Upstate!”
–Ashley Buzzard
As an English major, Buzzard became involved in the Literary Club, which at the time was run by Dr. Canino, along with Dr. Kusch and Dr. Williams. Buzzard served in the SGA as the English representative, and participated in trips to Washington, D.C., including the Folger Shakespeare Museum. With her involvement in literary club reading parties, the Renaissance Festival, and other club activities, she began to see herself as not just a student, but a colleague.
During her senior year at Upstate, Buzzard was worried about getting into a good graduate program, because her grades from before were not that great. “Dr. Kusch was helping me on my Senior Seminar,” she says, “and she told me not to let my fear of previous poor performance stop me. She said, ‘I’ll write you a really great letter of recommendation,’ and she did.” So did Dr. Williams and Marilyn Knight. Buzzard was accepted to Clemson University with a full assistantship.
Buzzard says she always wanted to teach in a community college because that’s where she started, and her professors always encouraged her to finish her education. “I said, if I ever have the opportunity, I want to do that. I like the student population, the different ranges of age and skill,” she says.
Buzzard taught at Midlands Technical College for 10 years, in which time she assisted in restructuring they way they taught English 101 and 102 to align better with their sister colleges and improve students’ ability to transfer to four-year universities. In 2020, she moved back to the area and now teaches at Spartanburg Community College.
“I love the students here at SCC, and I love that many of them will go to USC Upstate!”
An important part of Buzzard’s role at Spartanburg Community College is serving as Director and Faculty Advisor for Ascend, the college’s literary journal. “A lot of students are poets, they just don’t talk about it” until you ask if they want to have their work published, she notes. Students often say, “‘Oh, I write poetry,’ but they don’t consider themselves poets.” Ashley encourages her students to submit their work and start to see themselves as published writers.
Initially, Buzzard faced a limited budget for bring students’ work to press, but she reached out to the SCC Alumni Association, and they soon became the sponsor of Ascend. She also recruited students from Graphic Design to help do the layout of the magazine. This collaboration was a success, and the magazine took off.
Ascend was submitted to the Community College Humanities Association and won three national awards: Best Photography Southeast, Best Essay, and Best Original Art.
With Professor Buzzard at the helm, the writers, graphic designers, and artists from SCC were able to find success with the magazine. Now Ascend is an official club at SCC with a Constitution, and they are continuing to expand. “We have 22 students currently in the club, which is pretty huge,” she says. Her desire is that Ascend continue to build on the strong foundation that she and her students have worked so hard to establish.