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Faculty Spotlight-Ken Wagman<br />
By Elizabeth Quijada<br />
Many students on the Gavilan College campus<br />
know and adore Ken Wagman. You would be<br />
hard pressed to find a student that has a bad<br />
word to say about Ken Wagman. I had the<br />
pleasure of taking one of his math classes, and<br />
it has surpassed every math class in my life. I<br />
found the confidence that I had been<br />
lacking in math and was able to pass his final<br />
with an A! The sheer amount of joy I felt<br />
cannot be put into words. Many students<br />
struggle with the fear of math and because of<br />
this do not always do well in the upper<br />
division math courses. I hope that my<br />
interview with Professor Wagman will be able<br />
to inspire students to confront math, and<br />
conquer it!<br />
Ken Wagman began his college career at<br />
Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. From there he transferred to UC Santa Cruz where he received his<br />
B.A. in Math. From then on he began teaching math at UC Santa Cruz, until he decided to receive his masters in<br />
Math as well. As students have probably noticed, Wagman has a unique teaching style that makes his classroom<br />
interactive, and hammers home all the math concepts. His classroom is an open forum for students to interact with<br />
each other, and the professor, which is a surprising quality to find. He was inspired by his own 10th grade math<br />
teacher. She had gone through the Bataan Death March in the Philippines and came out a courageous woman. Her<br />
teaching style was unique in the classroom, and she inspired students. Professor<br />
Wagman went on to dedicate his master’s thesis to her. He chose the teaching<br />
career, as he simply put it, because it’s fun and the students continually inspire<br />
him to continue teaching. He loves to see the smile of recognition on a student's<br />
face, when they figure out a certain math concept or problem. He has witnessed<br />
students with a fear of math, so convinced that they cannot overcome math, be<br />
able to surpass that obstacle. All they needed was some assistance, and<br />
encouragement.<br />
“ We know<br />
you can do it,<br />
just keep<br />
working at<br />
it.”<br />
And that is what it boils down to. That is how the fear of math can be conquered!<br />
Assistance and encouragement! As Wagman pointed out, so many resources are<br />
available, including office hours and MESA tutoring, yet these resources go<br />
underutilized. He encourages students to ask questions and to take advantage of<br />
all the resources available. But one important issue that Wagman also stressed was to do your homework. We,<br />
students do have a knack for procrastination, and doing homework once a day, can definitely keep the F away.<br />
Professor Waxman’s last words of inspiration for all you students out there, “ We know you can do it, just keep<br />
working at it. Do your homework!”<br />
Gavilan College has been lucky in calling Ken Wagman a math professor, and I myself have been inspired by him. He<br />
helped me conquer my fear of math, and my hope is that any students that read this will be able to find a professor<br />
or mentor to inspire them to conquer their own fear of math in their life.<br />
Gavilan College MESA & TRIO <strong>Spring</strong> <strong>2016</strong> Page 2
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