Article by Luke Teigue | Owl Staff

Wayne and some of his students pose for a photo during a class field trip.

Some say one good teacher can change your life. Throughout his twenty-seven years at Harford, Wayne Hepler changed thousands. 

Before his over two-and-a-half-decade long tenure as a Mass Communications professor at Harford Community College, Hepler spent a number of years working at both the University of Southern Indiana and Butler University.

“That was a lot fun,” says Hepler. “To come out of grad school and do that right off the bat, where a fair part of your job was reassuring people that you actually are this good, and you actually can do this.”

Hepler continued to work in media for some time, but always felt the call to teach. He returned to Ohio University in 1988 for a Master’s Degree in telecommunications.  

“The first time I ever stepped into the classroom as a teaching assistant, I knew I loved this,” Hepler continues. “It was just a matter of ‘would the students love it too?’”

Although he knew of his love for teaching and sought to make a career of it, Hepler’s profession was not without its challenges. As a teaching assistant, Hepler aided classes that contained up to one hundred pupils. 

“I never taught before, really… and I’m walking to this room where the students are expecting that I’m the teacher,” Hepler explains. “Here I am just popping in the door. ‘Hey, hi, what are we doing? Oh, is that up to me? I get it.’ And yet still, when I walked in the door, I just instantly said, ‘I’m home.’”

“I’m just myself, and if people like that, then I guess I’m good.”

When Hepler began his journey at Harford, he found himself questioning how to connect with so many students across several different classes. Shortly after, he spoke to Professor Gary Owens and received advice on what Hepler calls “the most freeing thing I ever heard.”

“I couldn’t tell you in a million years. I’m just myself, and if people like that, then I guess I’m good,” Owens told him. 

Over the many years Hepler continued to teach, he utilized the advice he received from Owens. Hepler incorporated his own sense of entertainment and humor into the classroom to keep his pupils engaged. Something as simple as a humorous multiple-choice option on a quiz or a funny story goes a long way for students who spend the majority of their time in a lecture hall. 

For Hepler, it isn’t only about jokes and humor in the classroom. He puts a strong emphasis on humility, learning from one another, and encouraging feedback from his students. 

“There are a lot of good teachers out there, but, to a fair degree, they’re [students] used to teachers always being right,” Hepler explains. “Really? Does anybody know me?”

Hepler’s success as a professor is clearly reflected in many students of his who have seen great fortune in their respective careers. 

“They are all over the map. They’re in New York, they’re in Hollywood, one guy is in Colorado because he left [Steven] Spielberg’s organization because they weren’t adopting change fast enough for him,” Hepler continues. “MSNBC, CNN, and the film industry in Georgia.” 

Over his thirty-five years as a teacher, Hepler has seen undeniable success and positively impacted the lives of thousands. Although he is now retired, with the Spring of 2024 being his final semester, he still loves teaching and plans to continue working part-time.  

“I still have the fire for teaching that I always had. I still love the students as much as I ever loved them. That’s about it.”

Leave a Reply