Edward Fedalizo with colleagues at the Classified Awards.
I am forever grateful to our community colleges for the opportunity it provides and
the access it affords everyone who has a dream or goal in higher learning. My personal
academic journey can be traced back to a humble beginning at the community college.
Starting My Career in Education
I am an Ilokano-descended Filipino American. The youngest of seven children, I am
a first-generation college student and the first in my family to attend. I am a De
Anza College graduate. While enrolled full-time at De Anza, I also began a career
in transportation management. I landed at UPS through the Career Center, became a
supervisor, and started a twenty-plus year career run. What I did not realize is I
also started a career in education.
I was a natural at logistics, operations management, business administration, and
with a four-year degree now in hand, my career skyrocketed. I ascended to senior leadership
levels with continuous success, and promotional growth opportunities abounded. Graduate
school was not even a thought then, and I did not yet envision the dream to come.
Pursing My Master's Degree
Nearly two decades speed by, and my career is in cruise control. However, my life
goals and perspectives evolved. I now yearned to go back to school. I was interested
in getting a master's degree, and I began dreaming of becoming a college instructor
and an education professional.
Making a career change is neither easy nor ideal, and it scared me. However, the vocation
to something bigger and grander than oneself cannot be ignored, especially when one
finds purpose in it. You see, I did not have to leave my business management life
at FedEx. In fact, I was set in a career and could have well finished out the rest
of my working years in my comfort zone.
As destiny would have it, I found the courage to close that chapter of life and retired
from my business management career and the transportation industry after 20 years.
I returned to school in 2016. I earned a master's degree entirely online at the University
of Phoenix, and by 2018 I fell in love with eLearning, distance education, instructional
technology, online instructional design and identified with its potential.
Thus, I went on to get a second master's degree, an MSEd in Online Teaching and Learning
at CSUEB. I freelanced as an instructional designer for nearly two years before finally
landing at Mission College in 2021 amid the pandemic to support faculty with our Distance
Education Instructional Designs and Instructional Technology.
At Mission College, I have the honor of working alongside dedicated colleagues. It
is an honor to serve in support to help others find success in education at every
level. Back in 1993, when I entered De Anza College, I never imagined the journey
I embarked on would lead me back to the community college space as an educator, contributor,
advocate, professional, and architect for student success.
Yet I believe we at the community college share in the collective work to improve
lives, find victory over adversity, and fight against all odds. The community college
is where I began, and like for many of you, the space is my personal sanctuary.
What started out as a dream became a personal vision for my future, and with a leap
of faith, it too came to pass. The journey ahead has found me, and I am studying Ilokano
and Tagalog at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in the Philippine Language and Culture
degree program. I am obtaining this degree because I have a dream and vision to teach
Philippine languages and Philippine studies at the community college.
So, my friends, if a dream wakes up in your heart and a vocation calls, it is my hope
you lean in with courage and faith to walk toward it. Your biggest dream is yet to
be revealed, so never is it too late to pursue it. The learning process never ends,
and your most remarkable work is yet to come. Dream big, see yourself in it and take
a chance on yourself.”
Fun Facts
I enjoy solving the many variations of the Rubik's cube puzzle. I am not a speedcuber
by any stretch, but I do find great joy and satisfaction in finishing a solution.
Also, while in graduate school, I served as a mailman for the Mission Station US Post
Office in Santa Clara.
