Student Spotlight: Finding confidence to explain why

Victoria described her first experience with the pure passion and joy a professor can demonstrate: “A moment that made me think about math for the better was when I was taking Professor Fernandez’s class in the Fall. This was my first math class here at MSU. Professor Fernandez had such pure joy and excitement when teaching. She was so open and happy to hear all of our unique ways of thinking and solving, and referenced math as ‘fun’.” She spoke similarly of her experience in class with Dr. DiNapoli citing his patience and flexibility with class: “Dr. DiNapoli really takes the opportunity to thoroughly explain the question, whether it’s asked in person or via email. Throughout the semester thus far, my peers and I are experiencing him stick to his word with keeping the pace as we need. His main goal is for us to really understand the content and be able to explain to our future students why math makes sense. This alone is something I will hold true to my future teaching. I hope to express the same level of patience and excitement for math as Dr. DiNapoli.” Victoria stated: “I can confidently say that I now understand and can explain the reasoning behind math.”