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Since the 1990s, California Baptist University has transformed from a small liberal studies college into the largest Baptist university on the west coast. Assistant Professor of English David Isaacs has seen most of the growth first hand.

As a child, Isaacs enjoyed building forts and terrorizing his sister's dolls with his twin brother, Dirk. When he reached adolescence, he had no idea what he wanted to pursue in the future.

After two years of being an undeclared major at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB), he chose to pursue English because it was what he enjoyed most. He had no direction at the time, so reading books by J. R. R. Tolkien, Francis Schaeffer and C. S. Lewis inspired him to pursue writing. He did not want to teach, but as a teacher's assistant he was able to overcome his fear of public speaking.

"I was still a student, but I had completed all of my coursework. My first class was a freshman composition class, and I was the professor. It was eight in the morning and in a building that was hard to locate. I didn't want to get there too early because I didn't know what I was supposed to say to my students when they came inside. I was scared and nervous. I walked into the classroom, and they were all there in their seats, but they were sitting in the dark. The automatic lights had gone off, and nobody knew how to turn them on. It turned out that they were just as scared as I was. When I came in, it triggered the lights, and it turned out to be just a fun, symbolic learning experience," he said.

Isaacs earned his bachelor's degree in English from CSUSB, and his master's degrees in Faith and Culture from Trinity Graduate School and Christian Apologetics from Simon Greenleaf University.

He arrived at CBU in 1996 before the JoAnn Hawkins Music Building, the Yeager Center and the University Place apartments were built. During his time here, the most significant changes at CBU were the loss of Wayland Marler, the growth in the student body and obtaining university status.
Isaacs looks forward to delving into interesting subjects and getting to know students with each new semester. He also credits his students and co-workers for showing him how to model the Christian life and integrating faith into the classroom.

Isaacs enjoys the challenge to learn, but says that keeping up with the culture and making everything interesting is a part of teaching that is most challenging.

"I love seeing light bulbs appear over students' heads," he said.

Isaacs also has some wisdom for students interested in becoming professors: "Remember that freshmen are around 18 years old, so try not to make it too rigorous or challenging. It's also easy for first- time teachers to become isolated from their colleagues, and they need that support. It helps to get plugged in and be flexible."