Meet Mike Choman. Mike Choman began teaching accounting and business administration classes at Wenatchee Valley College in 1994 and has dedicated his career to helping students reach their full potential. As Mike prepares to retire from teaching after thirty-nine years in the classroom, he shared his insights on how WVC students have inspired him to become a better person, professor, and advocate.
When Mike was attending college as an undergraduate student, he didn’t initially consider becoming a teacher. He began weighing his career options while he was finishing his Master of Business Administration at the University of Wyoming and interviewed for a job at Boeing in Seattle. “I did some serious soul searching, and it wasn’t clear to me that the corporate world would be the best fit,” Mike said. He quickly realized he was interested in teaching at community colleges. “I would have gone anywhere in the U.S. for that first job."
Before he began working at WVC, Mike taught at Northland Pioneer Community College in Northern Arizona and the College of the Redwoods in Northern California. “I had been teaching for seven years at that point, and I was thinking about getting out of the teaching profession. I always loved teaching, and the only reason I thought about changing my career was because I wasn’t convinced I was worthy of it. I always thought that I wanted more real-world business experience to impart to students.”
It was during this period that Mike received an important phone call from a former colleague. “A friend of mine who I had worked with in Arizona called me and said there’s this place called Wenatchee Valley College and they’re hiring faculty,” he said. Looking back, that pivotal phone call made all the difference. “I decided to apply and accepted the job at WVC. That was when I realized I was in it for the long haul with the teaching profession, and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life,” Mike shared.
“I knew that teaching and the life of teaching was for me from day one,” he said. Teaching quickly became a calling for Mike as he began to see how learning empowered his students. As a mentor and professor to countless WVC students throughout his tenure, Mike exemplifies an abiding sense of responsibility to help students learn, grow, and thrive.
At WVC, he began to see the track record of students succeeding in his classes, entering the
workforce, or continuing their education at a four-year university. “I could see the
quality of their lives improve,” Mike shared. “My students have taught me how to be a
better teacher. I’ve learned over the years how to use their feedback, and I’ve also
learned not to stand in their way.”
Several years ago, a former student reached out to Mike for a class assignment. “I remember the day he walked into my office,” Mike shared. “He was from Romania, and even though he couldn’t speak English, he wanted to study accounting, business, and economics. I watched him spend twelve to fourteen hours a day learning English, learning to read and write, and learning the subject matter.”
This student went on to transfer to Washington State University (WSU), earn his master’s degree from UC Berkeley, work for Intel, and earn a second master’s degree from Harvard University. “For one of his classes at Harvard, they wanted him to reach out to a former professor,” Mike said. “So, he reached out to me and told me that the main benefit I provided for him is that I didn’t stand in the way of his dreams. I made him feel like he could succeed. It wasn’t the content, it wasn’t any of that. It’s just that as a human I made him feel like he could succeed in what he wanted to do.”
Mike recognizes that WVC students have a lot going on in their lives, from working
full-time to raising families while going back to school, and they continue to show
up for themselves. “Teaching is a huge responsibility,” Mike shared. “What I’ve learned from my students
is that what I say to them has power and that I don’t want to stand in their way.”
Outside of teaching, Mike is known throughout the Wenatchee Valley as a jazz guitarist, and he looks forward to continuing to perform with the Confluence Jazz Trio after retiring from the college in June, along with spending time traveling with his wife to visit their daughter in London and son in Los Angeles. “My life after retirement isn’t going to look that different. I’m still going to play guitar and I’m still going to travel. One thing I’m looking forward to is being able to travel in the fall or in the spring when I would normally be teaching,” he shared with a smile.
Reflecting on the thirty-two years he has spent teaching at Wenatchee Valley College, Mike expressed gratitude for his faculty and staff colleagues. “We are lucky to be able to work with the quality of people we work with here. I come to work almost every day now just grateful to be here,” he said. “The college has been a wonderful place for me to spend my professional career. I will always be grateful to it and to all the wonderful people I’ve had the pleasure to work with.”
As Mike prepares for his final classes before graduation, he is hopeful for the college’s future. “I’d like the community to know that it can be proud of Wenatchee Valley College and of the value it adds to the lives of our community,” he said. Professor Choman’s legacy as an educator will have a lasting impact on WVC students, faculty, staff, and community members for years to come.
Published June 4, 2026