To many students, the word math can send a cold shiver up your spine. It often can seem like another language. Luckily, it’s one Professor Howard Schwesky loves to translate.
Prof. Schwesky knows math often has a bad reputation, but he tries to present it in a less intimidating fashion.
“Math anxiety is very common, but I want students not to fear it like it’s an incomprehensible language,” said Schwesky. “I want them to gain confidence and see that it’s not as hard or as scary as it might appear.”
In addition to teaching 13 units of math combined at both Moorpark and Pierce College (a full-time teacher teaches 15 units), he also works as a computer programmer at Fiserv financial services in Moorpark.
Even with this extensive a schedule, he does not view all of this as work, but more of a hobby.
“The teaching doesn’t feel like work,” said Schwesky. “It’s fun and very rewarding.”
And this type of enthusiasm hasn’t gone unnoticed by his students.
Garret Clark, a 21-year-old business major at Moorpark College, took a year of math classes with Prof. Schwesky and found it to be different from his previous math classes.
“I’ve never really liked math in school but the classes with Proffesor Schwesky really made a difference,” said Clark. “The way he explained it and taught it all, just really made it click.”
Schwesky cites his first experience as a tutor as a touchstone that lead him becoming a teacher.
“I was in 11th grade tutoring a 9th grader in Algebra. She had a D average. She didn’t particularly like math, so I was trying to find ways to make it fun. I thought hard about ways that I could make the material seem more understandable,” said Schwesky. “She ended up with an A. I was so excited when she told me what grade she got. I felt that helping her succeed was more gratifying than me doing well in my math classes.
Kelsey Amstutz, a 19-year-old child development major at Moorpark, found his enthusiasm helpful in his intermediate algebra class.
“He’s more down to earth,” said Amstutz. “He makes you feel comfortable and he helps you to understand the material.”
Schwesky teaches at Pierce Monday and Wednesday nights, and at Moorpark Tuesday and Thursday nights, but doesn’t believe his teaching may falter due to being tired from an already long day.
“Believe it or not, the teaching gives me so much energy. When I’m not teaching during the summer, just programming, I feel very tired,” said Schwesky. “Once school starts again, even though I’m working many more hours, I feel much more energetic, because I’m doing something that I love.”
