Mathematics Education
Indiana Wesleyan University 2009
"Hello fellow math majors! I hope all is well. I am currently teaching 7th grade math at Westfield Middle School in a community just north of Indianapolis. I love teaching. Not a day goes by that I am not thankful for the opportunity I have to teach what I love and fulfill God’s purpose for my life. I was created to be a math teacher and when I teach I feel pleasure in knowing that I am doing what God made me to do. I am so thankful for my IWU education.
I owe so much to the math department of IWU. The math professors trained and molded me both intellectually and spiritually into the teacher I am today. It is because of them and their dedication to the IWU students I not only uncovered my purpose in life, but was given the tools in which to pursue it for the Lord’s kingdom.
More specifically I owe a special debt of gratitude to the IWU math department for a recent grant I received to travel throughout Asia this summer. My senior seminar thesis was based on international achievement in mathematics. I recently took the research I had used for my senior project and transformed it into a grant proposal that was accepted and funded by the Eli Lilly Foundation. The grant allowed me to travel to 7 different Asian countries over the past two months. During this time I interviewed numerous teachers, visited several schools and completed the research I started 5 years ago.
This summer was an incredible blessing to me. I learned so much about various education systems, best teaching practices and met some incredible teachers. I was so thankful for this opportunity to grow as an educator and to learn from some of the best educators in the world. This opportunity would not have been possible without the guidance of my IWU math professors and their dedication to pushing me to achieve my fullest potential. They helped me find and pursue my passion, and with those tools God has been able to open up some incredible doors for me. I am so blessed and so thankful."