MAT 1475 Calculus I Fall 2014

Hi!! My name is Tatiana Davydova, and I am from Russia. I came to America in 2004, when I was 11 years old (TEN years ago!- you do the math) A lot has changed since then, one of the most important things being the way I treat my school work. Until about two years ago all I was concerned about was passing, whether it was a test or a class, all I cared about was going to the next level. I did not care about the grade, not the knowledge I could potentially get nor the satisfaction of being one those students who were on top. The mere idea of homework was enough to make me hate school. I couldn’t understand what its purpose was. And mathematics was on top of the list, when it came to the things that I hated.

In fall 2012 I took a college level math class (in another college,) I had one of the lowest grades in my class, for the first time in my life I felt truly humiliated. Upon speaking to my professor I decided to go to tutoring and actually do the homework assignments. When it came time for the final I was mortified. I earned one of the highest grades in the class. Needless to say, I started doing homework for all my classes after that. When it was time for me to take MAT 1275 I was no longer terrified, I knew what I had to do to earn my A. I knew it wouldn’t be easy but I loved every second of it, perhaps not every – trigonometry is not fun, but the satisfaction of getting an A in a subject your were once petrified of, worth every second.

PS: I want to become a PA(Physician Assistant)

PPS: I love math now.

Hello MAT1475! My name is Stephen Tripodi. I’m seventeen years old, and live and have always lived in The Bronx. Aside from being in college, I work at City Polytechnic High School as the Tech Support Engineer. I enjoy reading about finance and trade fake stock even though it’s a career I will most likely not take on. My favorite sport is baseball and I have been to every opening day at The New Yankee Stadium since it opened. This is my first full time semester here at New York City College of Technology. I’m majoring in Civil Engineering and Construction Management. Coming into college, I had no idea what to expect and was told that the professors don’t care how there students do, however that does not seem to be that case. For the most part the professors are actually cool, and are everything I hoped they would be. I hope to learn as much as I can, as I have a passion for math as my mind is always trying to find the best solution to a problem.

Math is basically what makes the world go round. I have always preferred math over any subject, especially English. These feelings have never changed simply because I find math to be easier than other subject as there is always a method leading to a final solution. Although I do not think math changes much, I believe the way we think about it changes over time. I’m excited to be in Calculus this year and to be in class with classmates of mine from high school!!

I am from Brooklyn, New York City. My Major is Electromechanical Engineering so I could continuue onto Computer Engineering.  I hope to continue my education until I have my doctorate degree.  I wish to minor in guitar music studies because I love to play with my guitar and create music.

I was not great in math and even though I can solve some math problems. I was not good in algebra when I first started to come back to college. But, I have improved a lot through tutoring and some of the best professors that I have met. I was able to obtain 3.4 grade point average for the entire college curriculum from this past 2013 Fall semester. I finished taking algebra, geometry, trigonometry and pre-calculus with an A average.

The first part of your first assignment is to set up your OpenLab site and add this class to it. Congratulations if you’ve made it this far already! The next part of the assignment is to create a post on the OpenLab.

Writing instructions: Write a short (2 or 3 paragraph) introduction to yourself  and your “mathematical history.”

• Include biographical information about where you grew up, what your major is at CityTech, and why you’re taking this class. Add any other details about yourself that you think your classmates would find relevant or interesting.
• Include information about your experience with math, either in classes or out in the world. What are your general feelings about math? Have they changed over time? How do you feel about taking this class? If you’re interested in setting up or joining a study group, this would be a good time to let your classmates know.
• (Optional) Include a picture of yourself so that your instructor and classmates can get to know you!
• If there is information that your instructor should know but that you’d like to keep private (for example, if you require any testing accommodations through Student Support Services), please send an email to kpoirier@citytech.cuny.edu. Be sure to include your name and course code MAT 1190 in the subject line.

Posting instructions:

• Select “Post” under the plus-sign icon in the toolbar above.
• Title your post “My mathematical history – [your name].”
• Type or copy-paste what you’ve written into the textbox.
• Select “Mathematical Histories” from the categories available on the right-hand side of the screen (otherwise, it will be too hard to keep track of everyone’s submissions).
• Select “Publish.”

Feel free to read your classmates’ submissions and comment on them!