Introductions

googol [goo-gawl, -gol, guhl]
­–noun
a number that is equal to a 1 followed by 100 zeroes and expressed as 10^100.

googolplex
–noun
a number that is equal to a 1 followed by a googol zeroes and expressed as 10^(10^100).

When I was in second grade we had to give a report on a book that we found in the library. I found a book on numbers. I can’t tell you the name of the book today, nor its content. What I can say is that it had a black cover with red, blue, and white convex polygons on the cover, and that it introduced my verdant mind to the imaginative possibilities that mathematics can offer; in this case, of the numbers googol and googolplex.

It’s from that enigmatic book that I account for my love of numbers and mathematics. Or at least, that’s the earliest case I can recall that links mathematics with my adoration of the field. Much to my regret, however, I never really met a teacher with a similar love of mathematics, or in the very least, a contagious interest in the field. Certainly there were a number of *good* mathematics educators (teachers and academics) who introduced me to interesting activities, or whom I felt could relate the concepts better than most. Meditating on these educators brings me back to Mr. Crosby’s Trig and Calc classroom: In it, I relive his jealousy of his Galois, his proposal to his wife on a bridge near the University of Minnesota, even his tricks for remembering trig function values (so long as I have a hand and can remember “All Students Take Crack,” I shall never go wrong).

Mr. Crosby aside, I never felt like I learned under an educator who could spark my imagination like those whom I had in other fields, and even then, I’m not sure that Mr. Crosby sparked anything that wasn’t already abundantly present. You might say that as I had lacked experiencing a mathematics educator with the uncanny ability to spark the math-bug in others, that I would like to be that teacher for students. I genuinely enjoy mathematics, am continually fascinated by whatever new gems of math that I can learn, and try to share this excitement with others, both by helping others and by discovering answers when engaged in problem solving. To me, professionals of this nature must continually challenge others, and especially themselves; they are duty-bound to push the limits of understanding so that all might better understand those limits.

To accomplish these ends, I applied and enrolled at Montclair State’s MAT program in mathematics. Having a Bachelor’s in Mathematics and five years as a Mathematics Content Editor, I knew I was well-prepared to teach either Middle or High School, but lacked a formal education. I have been at MSU for one semester, and in that time I have learned scores of education theories, all of which will be a boon to my future career. Regardless, I eagerly look forward to what I will learn in Math 579, as I feel that where education classes help prepare students to be teachers, methods courses provide students with tools they can practically apply to their careers as teachers. I see this class as a vehicle for those tools, and eagerly await the challenges that await me. Through their engagement, I know I will be a step closer to my goals and my future.