I was fortunate enough to know what I wanted to do in life at a very young age. I had always been interested in math and puzzles and brain teasers and logic, and I became pretty good at them too. Even in elementary school, I had started preferring mathematics over any other subject. Despite other students being bored or befuddled by those topics, I loved them.
In middle school, when kids started seriously talking about "what they wanted to be when (if?) they grew up", I knew I wanted to do something with math. And as middle school turned into high school and I started tutoring other students, I started to realize I was a pretty decent (fourteen, fifteen, sixteen year old) little educator too. At least, I liked doing it, and other people were learning from me.
While I wasn't sure what grades I wanted to teach, I knew (at the very latest, by early high school) that I had officially wanted to teach math.
Probably high school, I had figured. The students had attitudes and were more jaded than younger kids, sure, but the math topics were more interesting and you could actually have mature conversations with those guys. (There are tons of pros and cons for teaching elementary or middle or high school or college kids, but these appealed to me most at the time.)
And as I got my bachelor's in mathematics and my master's in mathematics education, I kept tutoring. Everyone and everything. College kids? Easy. Kindergarteners? You got it. Standardized tests? I may not be a fan of them, but I know that big blue College Board SAT book like the back of my hand. I started working at public tutoring centers in tenth grade, and I haven't stopped (I don't plan on ever stopping). Private tutoring is great money too, although less dependable.
And as I tutored more and more, and gained more experience in the classroom (student teaching, TAing, practicum, etc.), and did more research for my current PhD program (math education too), I started leaning more towards instructing at the university level. Less politics and no whining parents. More responsibility is placed on the students and the teachers can actually teach. Et cetera.
And so while I continue my PhD at Rutgers New Brunswick in mathematics education, and work at public tutoring centers in central New Jersey, and private tutor non-stop, I went in for a job interview at NJIT as a pre-calculus adjunct professor. Long story short (I recognize that I'm ranting and all over the place right now), I got the job, got the information, and got a ton of paperwork.
I'm teaching pre-calculus for math/ science/ engineer majors in the fall, at NJIT
A picture made by a high school class I taught during my master's program.
Congrats! I'm a course lecturer, so not quite a professor yet... it's awesome. Stand before them kids, like a God. You control them like puppets - you say stuff and they write it down like you're a prophet.
Just a warning! A few of my students are smartasses who have taken a similar class before and know some extra stuff that's not in my curriculum, so they'll ask unnecessarily specific questions, sometimes clearly with the intention of cornering me. My class is a very basic "history" class of Canadian politics, I can't spend too much time in the details, but I still have to know my stuff so I won't look like one of those boring curriculum robots. Of course, it's also interesting to give more than just what's on the exam.
In other words, be sure to know your shit (although you maths people seem to know fucking everything about maths all the time). I'm getting really familiar with my class because I've given it 4 times, but I still make sure to look up my notes before every class to be sure I'm not forgetting any of my interesting misc. facts and various notable details.
I'm thinking there are no secrets in pre-calc for a mathematics PhD student though, but still, I just wanted to put it out there. Also, engineering students are likely to complain and continuously ask for practical applications.
Congrats! I had a similar experience when I was younger, I always wanted to be a writer since I first read Go, Dog Go! when I was five. Now that's what I do. Always great to hear people doing what they have a passion for rather what they have to do. Good luck, sir!
I never thought of adjuncts as professors before, since I usually equate professors with TT positions, but you seem really thrilled about the position, so that's pretty good!
Congrats! Well done. That's impressive. I've also known that I wanted to be a programmer at a young age however I've been relatively lazy and now that I am 18. I have begun focusing on it much more intensely. Good Job DPB also that gif at the end is epic!!
Congrats! I'm a course lecturer, so not quite a professor yet... it's awesome. Stand before them kids, like a God. You control them like puppets - you say stuff and they write it down like you're a prophet.
Just a warning! A few of my students are smartasses who have taken a similar class before and know some extra stuff that's not in my curriculum, so they'll ask unnecessarily specific questions, sometimes clearly with the intention of cornering me. My class is a very basic "history" class of Canadian politics, I can't spend too much time in the details, but I still have to know my stuff so I won't look like one of those boring curriculum robots. Of course, it's also interesting to give more than just what's on the exam.
In other words, be sure to know your shit (although you maths people seem to know fucking everything about maths all the time). I'm getting really familiar with my class because I've given it 4 times, but I still make sure to look up my notes before every class to be sure I'm not forgetting any of my interesting misc. facts and various notable details.
I'm thinking there are no secrets in pre-calc for a mathematics PhD student though, but still, I just wanted to put it out there. Also, engineering students are likely to complain and continuously ask for practical applications.
Oh definitely! I've tutored pre-calc alone for at least eight years now I'm pretty set on the ins and outs of everything!
I wanted to apply for a lecturer post the other day. Got told don't worry about it, you won't get the job T.T
Aww don't let that turn you away from the occupation if you're interested! You can keep trying wherever there are openings, and build up your resume through other related jobs (tutoring, TAing, etc.). Good luck!
Whenever I handed out tests to my classes while student teaching, I would tell them all "good luck, have fun" I hope one day, a student will get the StarCraft reference. I'll also occasionally put Nintendo/ video game characters in my questions (e.g., a rate/ time/ distance problem with Mario and Luigi racing along a highway, rather than two trains or something else boring).
EPT
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/4PETDjI.jpg)
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