No B.S.
Dr. Leeva Chung brings organized chaos into the classroom
Katie Foreman / Contributor / The USD Vista
Once a wild child, always a wild child.
At age 14, University of San Diego communication studies professor Dr. Leeva Chung was staying out until four in the morning, forgetting to call her mom or check in. Today, this USD educator of 24 years will tell you she’s still living in the moment.
“I’ve honed it,” Dr. Chung said. “I know I exude a lot of energy — so my dad has taught me to learn Tai Chi and hone it.”
Any of Dr. Chung’s students in her multiple communication studies courses can attest to her zeal for education, unusual teaching methods and distinctive appearance. In her classroom, the purple-hued professor rocks the boat. She is not traditional in any sense of the word — she speaks her mind.
“You don’t have to like me,” Dr. Chung said. “If I concentrate on how people are feeling about me, I’m losing sight of what you’re here for, which is the material… I can’t have the whole entire class like me — that’s not why I’m here, but I think the respect part is really important.”
Dr. Chung’s unique teaching style is a culture shock for some students, but she describes it as “organized chaos.”
“There’s a goal, and there’s a method, but I am not going to tell you how the method and goal works — and that is chaotic,” she said. “There’s a method and there’s a madness — it feels icky, but later, it feels empowering.”
Students, for the most part, agree. On the website Rate My Professor, former USD students rated Dr. Chung’s classes an overall 4.1 out of 5, which helps inform future students. Comments range from “Her lectures are eye-opening and her class has made me grow a lot,” to “She is bold, and definitely beats her own drum,” to “She has very scattered teaching methods and can sometimes get off topic, but she makes it so much fun!” Students often noted her humor, passion and unorthodox classroom.
Dr. Chung said she teaches the way that she wishes she was taught, back when she was in school. She went through enough schooling to understand what she liked and what she didn’t like from educators. To her, it all makes sense. The organized chaos that students witness in her classroom is nothing new to Dr. Chung; she has been forced to be malleable her entire life.
The San Francisco native was raised in Chinatown, but she did not adhere to a traditional upbringing. Her parents divorced in the early 1970s — unheard of in her conservative Chinese community — and Chung attended four different elementary schools. Her mom was an opera singer, and her dad was a government employee; they co-parented Chung with her two sisters as best as they could under their circumstances. Throughout her experiences at different schools, she discovered her love for learning, as well as the many different approaches people take to educating.
“I was a smart kid, but I now understand there’s no one ‘right’ way of learning; there’s so many multitudes and modes in which we can connect information to the student,” she said. “And if you just rely on one, it just doesn’t work.”
The first elementary school Chung attended closed down, so she was then transported to an all Black school, which also closed. From there, Chung attended a school called Lake Shore and, in the second grade, she was overlooked for the gifted program due to discriminatory reasons, and her mother moved her to a community school. Once enrolled in this next school, Chung’s mother moved to San Francisco’s Marina District and Chung was transfered to nearby Treasure Island for classes. These many educational transitions at such a young age taught Chung how to be flexible and cooperative, especially in the classroom.
“I’ve had to be always ready to adapt and adjust: boom, boom, boom,” she said.
From learning to adjust to situations in her own life, Chung continues to carry this sense of flexibility with her, especially in her approach to teaching.
“How can I be true to this class by being present and flexible if I’m on a rigid schedule and giving you this clear prompt, that makes no sense to me, that I need to change? I can’t connect these dots for you — that’s part of the learning,” she said. “I want to be flexible and I want to give the dual nature of academic freedom and learning to that flexibility.”
While Chung’s teaching style has won her multiple awards for her skill as an educator, she holds a humble attitude toward such awards. Dec. 16, 2016, was declared “Leeva Chung Day” by the City of San Diego for the involvement she and her class had in a project with Pure Water San Diego. Chung finds herself to be undeserving of this day, saying it was her class that put in the hard work, not her.
“It kind of embarrassed me; if it had said ‘Leeva Chung’s Class Day’ then I’d be like, ‘yeah, okay, that makes sense, because we all kind of work together,’” she said. “It’s like, ‘why should I get that honor when my students did all the work?’”
Chung embraces building relationships with students and ensuring their success. For the entirety of her life, she said she has been surrounded by people who did not enjoy school. This began with her sisters. Chung finds purpose in supporting others in their educational pursuits.
“My mission is: how do you make people enjoy being present with us, learning what we do?” Chung said. “I’m a champion for the underdog.”
As a tall, Chinese woman growing up, Chung says she felt like an underdog. Not being able to play sports for a tall person, she said she again felt like the underdog. Not being able to speak Chinese the way other people did, she felt like the underdog. Being shoved into numerous schools, once again Chung felt like the underdog, as well as during class time when she spoke up often, which was deemed inappropriate by teachers.
“So it’s almost like — not the misfit — just the one… puzzle piece that doesn’t fit,” she said.
A sign her father had over his door was particularly impactful to her, and she would read it daily. It read:
“There is no right way to do the wrong thing. Give without remembering. Take without forgetting. Forget your mistakes, but remember what they taught you.”
Chung said her family has played a significant role in who she is today. Her mother gave her confidence and a sense of self-reliance. Her father taught her compassion and grace for others. Her grandmothers passed down their wit and humor. Her sisters showed her what it means to be present for the ones you love.
“Life is like a mosaic; everyone gave me a very distinct message,” Chung said.
Overcoming multiple obstacles throughout her childhood, Chung persevered in school, eventually earning a Speech Communication degree from San Francisco State University, then a Master’s degree in Speech Communication from California State University Fullerton. Finally, Chung completed her doctorate at the University of Oklahoma. She is a respected college professor, an author and a sought-after public speaker. Curiously, her original career choice was vastly different from her current occupation.
“I wanted to be a checkout clerk at a grocery store,” Chung said. “And so that’s why today when I go to the grocery store, I pack my groceries. I just find it thrilling.”
Despite overlooking her original career goal, she has experienced great accomplishments over the years. Her overall proudest achievement, Chung said, involved building a connection with a student in one of her classes. She described this particular student as “awful” in her class, refusing to participate, or even speak to her. Toward the end of the semester, however, Chung decided to show this student grace, by offering him an opportunity over email. As a result, there was a complete change in their understanding of one another.
“It was like this 180 with him,” she said.
The student and Chung came to terms with one another and ended up creating a positive relationship that she still values to this day.
“Everything that made me feel in a bad way, ended up being good for the right reasons,” Chung said.
Her biggest talent, it turns out, is making something appear out of nowhere, as was the case when forging a connection with this student.
At age 57, the wild child continues to inspire students with her no-BS style and unique approach. Throughout her life, Chung has been true to herself: adaptable, authentic, unapologetic and introspective. Chaos is a constant for her, both in and out of the classroom, yet somehow it always works out.
“I believe that’s like life; it’s like a river. You never know where it’s gonna flow,” Chung said. “You just gotta go with it.”