Barry’s Success Story

Barry, a student in his mid–forties, returned to school after twenty years with a major food company.  He was in search of new career direction and training.  Barry had never had algebra in high school.  It wasn’t that he was afraid of it.  Like so many other students, when he was in high school, he never saw very much use for it.  Now coming back to school after so many years, he had seen the applications of math at his former job, and now he was really motivated to learn algebra. 

Barry’s first college math class was Basic Algebra.  About halfway through this first level algebra course, Barry concluded that since the teacher of the class seemed to be enjoying his work so much, he would like to become a math teacher himself.  Consider how many mathematics courses and years of preparation there are between Basic Algebra and a teaching certificate.  A decision by a student at this level to become a mathematics teacher requires some incredible imagination!  Barry was successful in completing all the mathematics courses in the community college through Calculus III and Differential Equations (straight A’s!).  For the three years he was taking math classes in the community college, Barry volunteered between ten and fifteen hours per week working as a teacher’s assistant and tutoring in the learning center.  For the next three years he continued to work as a tutor in the learning center.  It is hard to know exactly how many students were successful in math because of Barry’s expertise as a math tutor.

He has now transferred to the University of Central Florida where he is continuing with higher mathematics and methods courses in pursuit of his teaching certificate.  Barry has nearly completed his degree requirements, and he plans to teach high school mathematics, helping young people learn to enjoy math as he has learned to enjoy it.

In conclusion, is there life after–math?  You bet there is!  You have overcome what you once thought was an insurmountable obstacle.  In the process, you may have even learned to like and appreciate math, enjoying the trip as well as the destination.   Most of all you are “math–equipped” for the profession of your choice.  You may not have “finished the race,” but you are certainly off to a good start!

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