Jeff Dunbar
Director, Chesapeake Student Center
Tidewater Community College, Chesapeake
Milestones
My road in life has taken me all over.
In high school, I met a girl, went to college, spent time dating girl and dropped out of college.
Got married, dropped out of college and went into a retail management training program and hated it.
Went back to college, worked at the 'Lair, graduated, had a variety of student affairs jobs.
Got my masters, went back to my alma mater, landed my dream job at Tidewater Community College opening a new student center.
Saw the show "Roadtrip Nation" and thought I deal with students with these same questions daily.
Keep following my journey
Education
High School
Nicholas County High School
Nicholas County High School
Career
Director, Chesapeake Student Center
I am responsible for the development of college students outside of the classroom.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Education
Government
Working with Others
Day to Day
Each day is totally different! Beyond ensuring that the services and daily activities of the student center are efficiently functioning, a lot of my time is engaging with students. As part of my role, I consider myself a “launcher”. I work individually with students to help them be successful, find themselves through self-discovery and help them to “launch” to the next phase of their lives. I’ve “launched” several students in to my career field who also help others they encounter to be successful.
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for college students
Engage and explore everything you encounter while in college. You never know what can happen from these different experiences. I was a student employee at the student center at WVU and had no idea I could have a career in this field until someone said, "You know you'd be good at this. If you're interested, I will help you." 20 years later, I'm having that conversation with my student staff. Try anything that you might find interesting; you don't have to be good at it all, just try it.
Recommended Education
My career is related to what I studied. I'd recommend the path I took:
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Family:
"You're married now, you need to get a job; a job in management or accounting, finance or banking."
Challenges I Overcame
Self Doubt
