Meet Collin Chang: Professor Barnacle’s Volunteer of the Bicentennial

Sometimes our volunteers are so wonderful that they break the space-time continuum.

Take, for example, Collin Chang, who apparently couldn’t simply be named Volunteer of the Month. No—after logging more than 70 hours across tutoring, field trips, and workshops, Collin earned a much more distinguished title: Professor Barnacle’s Volunteer of the Bicentennial.

Collin first found his way to 826LA through his good friend and our Development Manager, Cole Montgomery. As a writer himself who loves working with kids, he figured helping students bring their stories to life might be right up his alley.

He was right.

A Very Barnaclean Encounter

We asked Collin to share one of his favorite student moments at 826LA:

“I was given the honor of playing the irascible, curmudgeonly, hard-to-please Professor Barnacle, the ornery publisher of 826LA during a field trip. I was just a bellowing voice. It was my job to grill the kids on their progress in writing their stories and warn them that if they all didn't come up with thirty new stories, 826LA would have to be shut down. I was a growling, angry voice that blasted through the classroom speakers from upstairs.

On my first day playing the professor, during the kids' lunch break, I came down to get a cup of water. Well, two 2nd graders, a boy and a girl, saw me. The boy pointed at me and shouted, "That's Professor Barnacle!" To which the little girl replied, "It can't be him, Professor Barnacle is old!" That made my day!”

Why Writing Matters

While Professor Barnacle may have been the loudest part of Collin’s volunteer experience, it’s the students who have made the biggest impression on him.

One of his favorite parts of volunteering has been working with immigrant children who might speak a different language at home with their parents. For Collin, helping students feel comfortable and proud as they accomplish something in a secondary language has been especially meaningful.

Collin, thank you for your creativity, generosity, and excellent Professor Barnacle energy. We’re so grateful to have you in our community (and especially grateful that you’re willing to be the grumpy voice from upstairs whenever the real Professor Barnacle is too busy time traveling)!