After 37 years at Pierce, Microbiology professor Bernardine Pregerson has decided it’s time to join the ranks of those retiring this semester.
“I figured 85 is a good age to start thinking of another career,” she said.
Jokes aside, after 40 years of teaching, with three of those years in a part time position at CSUN, Pregerson admits she won’t completely give up teaching after her retirement this fall.
Pregerson still plans on teaching Microbiology 1 in the fall, and she’s considering Micro 20 next spring.
“I will miss [the classroom], which is why I am weaning myself by teaching a class after retirement,” she said.
Over the course of her career, Pregerson said she’s learned that teaching requires dedication, but she didn’t find that too hard to do since she enjoyed teaching.
“Every day is dynamic. Every class has a personality. And being with students, interacting with them is both a challenge and a joy,” she said.
Reflecting on her time at Pierce, Pregerson is glad that she found a school made up of “a congenial group of faculty in [the life science department] and superb chairs.”
“I couldn’t have asked for a better environment in which to teach than Pierce,” she said.