Math adjunct’s journey anything but linear

Southwestern College adjunct math instructor Brad Bolton’s childhood aspirations to be a teacher were almost cut short after he was injured in a knife fight at Chula Vista High School.

In 1995, a student pulled a knife on Bolton’s friend before getting in an altercation with Bolton. He stabbed Bolton’s leg six inches deep and sliced open his calf.

Bolton was put on probation with strict restrictions for the remainder of the year. He was later expelled for being tardy to a class because he forgot his book in his locker.

“If it was SDSU or you don’t go to school, I wouldn’t have made it because I got kicked out of high school,” said Bolton. “I didn’t take the SATs. No four-year would have touched me. I honestly believe that if it wasn’t for SWC I wouldn’t have made it. I needed those chances. I needed a moment to figure myself out. I needed that time.”

He finished his high school credits at Mar Vista Learning Center and earned his diploma.

“One of the hardest days of my life was watching all my friends walk at Chula Vista High, because I ended up graduating in the summer after in a rainbow graduation,” Bolton said. “I remember sitting in the stands when I was supposed to be the one walking in the field.”

Bolton spent the next seven years at SWC getting his associate degree. He initially relied on his smarts and coasted through classes. He now tells his students that would not cut it.

“College is different,” Bolton said. “It’s not about coasting. It’s about excelling because you need this information for the next class and the next one. Sometimes in high school you’re just trying to get the diploma and get out of there. College you’re choosing to be here.”

Bolton changed his study habits when he started dating his wife, Melyssa Bolton, who already had a son. Their son was 2 years old when he came into the picture and Brad started taking care of him more. It changed his whole viewpoint, he said.

“It’s different when you’re a student and it’s just you,” he said. “But when you have someone counting on you to succeed, it puts things in perspective. My son at the time wasn’t counting on me to succeed. He was two and didn’t know better, but I felt different. Coasting wasn’t enough. I was a father and husband and had to figure this out.”

Brad transferred to San Diego State University with his experience at SWC, but his life as a student did not get any easier.

He worked as a manager at Nike and had 50-hour workweeks. He would study until 2 a.m. and wake up at 6 a.m. for work.

He spent late hours at the library because he did not have the heart to look his kids in the face and say he could not spend time with them because he needed to study.

His wife said she knew he would not graduate if he kept up this routine. She suggested he quit work and focus on school.

“I knew he could do it and it would benefit us as a family in the long run,” Melyssa said. “I knew I had to take one for the family.”

They moved in with family members, but this solution only lasted while Brad was getting his bachelor’s degree.

“There were times where we had negative bank accounts,” Brad said. “My wife would be crying and we sold our car because we had no money. We were paying money to send our kids to a certain school and it was hard. Those were lean times.”

Brad earned his Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics, but he needed his master’s for his dream job of teaching in college.

Not working was no longer an option, he said. He maxed out student loans. Brad needed a job that did not require a lot of hours so he could still focus on classes. He applied to be a math tutor at SWC and was immediately hired by District Tutorial Coordinator Elizabeth Kozel.

“When I interviewed him, he was very frank and open about the challenges he had faced,” said Kozel. “He expressed how he was turning his life around and finally focusing on what he wanted to do and the career path he wanted to take.”

Kozel said Brad assisted students before his interview, which proved he was a perfect match for the program.

Brad wanted to enter the master’s program at SDSU for pure mathematics but needed a professor to allow him in the program. He asked his advisor for his honest opinion. The advisor looked at his transcripts and said, based on his grades, Brad should not be a professor. He said Brad should quit and consider being a high school teacher or an online math tutor.

Brad used the negative feedback as motivation. He reads that letter to this day when he feels discouraged to fire him up.

Tutors who worked with Brad saw him work and study hard while in the master’s program. Shahir Sikder, a former math tutor and current SWC math adjunct instructor, said he saw it firsthand.

“Back in the days when we were both tutors, Brad would pick me up and we’d go to the library at 10 p.m. and he would do his work there,” Sikder said. “He did go through struggles and he was busy raising a family, but he was determined.”

Brad became an adjunct instructor at SWC and has been working at what he calls the best job he has ever had for the past 10 years. His passion to help students understand math and continue the road to their education is displayed in his teaching style and dedication to students. He fought hard to be able to stand in front of the classroom, he said, and takes his job seriously.

“I’ve been kicked down my whole life,” Brad said. “All those bad things happened to me in my life. I’ve had a gun put to my head. I’ve been stabbed. I was expelled from high school. It gave me perseverance and I keep coming back for more. You can’t stop me.”