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When most people are dragging out of bed at 5:30 a.m., Christine Gunnigle is already doing burpies at Burn Boot Camp in Cary – a level of commitment she brings to all passions in her life.

After her sunrise sweat, Gunnigle hops on N.C. 147 en route to �鶹Ӱ�� where she serves as an instructor and director of the Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) program.

Over the last eight years, she worked her way up from instructor to clinical coordinator to now program director. Her dedication to the profession and equity and inclusion were recognized earlier this year when she received �鶹Ӱ��’s Excellence in Teaching award, the highest faculty recognition at the College.

Gunnigle grew up on Long Island, New York, and attended Suffolk Community College where she first discovered Occupational Therapy.

“I chose OTA while looking through the course catalog with my academic advisor. The description fit my interests of helping others and I have never looked back. I love the profession,” she said.

Similar to many students at �鶹Ӱ��, Gunnigle was a non-traditional student. She worked full-time at Wendy’s for eight years while she pursued her associate’s degree in OTA, taking just one or two classes each semester.

After graduating, she and her husband moved to North Carolina where she earned her bachelor’s in Exercise Sports Science and Psychology and her masters in Occupational Therapy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

She then started working full-time at Hillcrest Convalescent Center in �鶹Ӱ��.

“Occupations are the activities we do every day that we often take for granted until we can't do them anymore, like cooking and driving. It's a humbling experience to meet a client in one of the most vulnerable moments of their life and help them meet goals so they can better engage in their lives,” she said.
 

After receiving an invitation to serve on the North Carolina Board of Occupational Therapy, she connected with Carol Marcus, a former OTA instructor at �鶹Ӱ��. Gunnigle started working with �鶹Ӱ�� students at Hillcrest that were earning clinical hours, and was invited to present at the Clinical Council Meeting, organized by the OTA students.

When a teaching position opened at the College years later, she decided to give it a shot.

'Enormous heart'

Gunnigle taught her first class at �鶹Ӱ�� in Fall 2013.

“It’s pretty awesome to see students blossom and grow throughout the program. It’s incredible what they learn in just one semester. They accomplish so much in a short amount of time,” she said. “When they come back from their clinical rotations and hand in their paperwork, they’re two inches taller, their confidence is exuding, and it’s such a cool thing to see.”

For seven years, Gunnigle worked alongside former OTA Program Director Sue Cheng.

“Christine is as passionate about community college as she is about occupational therapy,” Cheng said. “She has an enormous heart for the students and the challenges they face while they're enrolled and working so hard to reach their goals.”

Alfred Hilliard, a current student of Gunnigle, said students feel that commitment.

“Mrs. Gunnigle's nurturing demeanor has created such a warm environment for me in the OTA program. She encourages you to learn during class and outside of class time by providing opportunities that elevate her students,” Hilliard said. “She is always available and I can tell that she values every person involved in our program. Mrs. Gunnigle has made learning easy for me because she genuinely loves teaching and wants her students to learn and apply the material. She exudes positivity and I'm so grateful to have her on my educational journey.”

Macie Bell, another OTA student, said Gunnigle is one of the most enthusiastic instructors she has ever had.

“She truly believes in the power of occupational therapy, and it shows. I am honored to have such a passionate instructor who not only generously shares her knowledge and experience with us as students but also as future practitioners and leaders in the profession,” Bell said.

Equity-minded curriculum

During the 2020 nationwide social justice movement, Gunnigle saw an opportunity to merge her passion for equity and social activism with her work in the classroom. She joined task forces focusing on equity and inclusion at �鶹Ӱ�� and began embedding required classroom sessions, such as Courageous Conversation workshops, in each class every semester.

“We’re talking a lot about systemic racism in the classroom and having a lot of conversations that are centered around race and ethnicity and what that means. That’s the biggest focus of our program right now,” she said. “We’re uncovering racism and bringing it to the forefront of people’s minds. We’re also creating connections with students that are really spectacular. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so connected to my students until we started doing this.”

In March, four OTA students presented at the North Carolina Occupational Therapy Association Virtual State Conference and participated in a panel discussion called Justice, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Learning Activities to Consider. Gunnigle led the discussion, which was intended to advance efforts of educational and practice settings to offer multiple types of opportunities for students, educators, and practitioners to think about and address social injustices.

In May, seven OTA students and the three OTA faculty members also presented a session at the �鶹Ӱ�� Faculty Development Day called Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Classroom: Student and Faculty Reflections.
 

“I love my work on the diversity, equity, and inclusion all over campus. I’m really enjoying that work and I’m really inspired by my colleagues,” she said.

COVID-19 and the College’s shift to virtual teaching also changed the way Gunnigle approached teaching.

The OTA program was six weeks from graduating its largest class of 23 students, and Gunnigle said she had to scramble to find clinical placements for her students while providing mental and emotional support from the pandemic impact.

“It was a very challenging time. The students didn’t know what was going to happen and neither did we, but we wanted them to know, ‘we’re with you in this, we’re here for you,’” she said.

All 23 graduated.

In addition to teaching, Gunnigle simultaneously supervised virtual learning for her 9-year-old son.

“It was a challenge, but my son got to see what I do everyday and I think that was important to him. He was a part of every class I taught for nine months. I also got to see my students’ kids and cats pop on camera, which was fun. It was cool to see a snapshot into everyone’s lives,” she said.

‘Over the moon’

Gunnigle’s passion for equity and unwavering dedication to her students during Covid-19 are among the reasons she received �鶹Ӱ��’s 2021 Excellence in Teaching Award.

“I could not believe that I won. I was over the moon. It blew my mind,” she said. “I’m so proud of that achievement because I work very hard at teaching. At the end of every class, I make notes on how I can make it better next year. I prep my classes from start to finish. I take student feedback seriously and I change things every semester. It was nice to have that work validated and know that I am getting better as I go.”

‘Community college changed my whole life’

This month, Gunnigle is starting the PhD program in Occupational Science at UNC. Her goal is to complete the program by the time she is 50 – in 8 years. The focus of her doctoral degree will be occupational injustice.

Gunnigle said she wouldn’t have had the opportunity to go to a four-year university or pursue her PhD without community college.

“Community college changed my whole life. I would’ve never been able to do the things I’ve been able to do without it,” she said. “I love my profession and the energy students bring.”

Gunnigle resides in Cary with her husband of 16 years, Kieran, and son, Brendan.
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Contact Marcy Gardner, Content and Social Media Coordinator at gardnerm@durhamtech.edu