ESL Faculty
Jessica Whitsett received her B.A. in Communication from University of California, San Diego and then pursued a TESOL credential at UCSD Extension before going on to complete an M.A. in Applied Linguistics at San Diego State University. She received her first exposure to helping non-native English speakers while working as a tutor in the English Center at San Diego City College. Several years later, she joined the ESL Department at Southwestern College. Jessica particularly enjoys teaching academic writing and grammar and preparing students to transition from ESL to mainstream college classes. Outside of the classroom, she spends her time running, reading, traveling, cooking vegetarian food, and walking her dog.
Courtney Leckey Bussell was born in New York City. From the ages of 12-18, she commuted up to four hours per day to school, traveling by bus, boat, and train to attend Hunter College High School in Manhattan. Because of this experience, she has great empathy for Southwestern College students who spend hours every day going back and forth across the border in pursuit of high-quality education.
She has a bachelor's degree in English with a creative writing concentration from Macalester College and a master's degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) from the City University of New York at Hunter College. During college, she studied archaeology and literature in Ireland. She has taught English in Minnesota, Venezuela, Morocco, and New York. She has studied Spanish, French, and Arabic. Since 2009, she has been teaching ESL at Southwestern College, and she is currently serving as ESL department chair.
Courtney loves working with students from all over the world, supporting them in achieving their goals and providing opportunities to experience the beauty of language and literature. She loves reading, writing, movies, music, art, science, hiking, and spending time with friends and family. She has two sons, a wonderful husband, and a very fluffy dog, and she loves to go on adventures with all of them.
Carol Ross earned both her bachelor's and master's degree in Spanish from San Diego State University (SDSU). She also minored in Linguistics and received an ESL Teaching certificate from SDSU as well. Carol grew up in the San Diego area, but because of her passion for the newly acquired Spanish language and culture and the desire to experience it in her everyday life, she moved down to Chile where she resided for 3 years, from 1992-1995. In her free time, Carol enjoys reading, playing the piano and traveling. She has done volunteer rehab work with Habitat for Humanity, built houses in India with Global Vision International, and has worked with the homeless in providing lunches and companionship here in San Diego. At Southwestern College, Ms. Stuardo teaches ESL and Spanish and is the advisor for the Spanish English Conversation Club. Her passion for teaching languages, appreciation for her students of varying cultures, and her pursuit in being a life-long learner, is what motivates Carol in her career.
Other ESL Faculty:
Melanie Alca
Nancy Bartels
Asuman Engin
Joanna Esser
Surian Figueroa
Gerre Galvin
Bronwyn Jarquin
Jaime Lenke
Alison MacArthur
Dan Moody
Araceli Moreno
Fabrizio Piovesan
Dr. Eliana Santana
Yvonne Simpson
Liza Smith
Ofelia Rayos
Olya Sukhanova
Yuki Yamamoto
Brittany Zemlick