In this chapter, I will explain how I found my major in detail. I wanted to write this chapter so we can remember why we chose our major and career. There isn't a perfect major/career. Every major has pros and cons, but we decided on that specific major because we like it and its interest. There are times that we might feel difficulty while pursuing our major, but this chapter is about how to continue chasing after its challenges. At the end of this chapter, I also want to share a service that helps kids with homelessness continue their education and go to college. Lastly, I want to mention that everyone can voluntarily help someone through their major such as my major is teaching.
Everyone has at least one teacher who inspires them to be the best of themselves, but luckily, I had two. In my freshman year of high school, I had a teacher named Mrs. Miller, a math teacher. Every day every student had to pick up the calculator that had a number hanging on the wall according to the number seat they were seating. For example, if I was sitting at desk number two, I had to pick the calculator that it said number two and return it after the class was over back where I found the calculator. Every calculator was picked up except one, which was mine because I chose not to use a calculator in my algebra one class. Whenever I finish classwork in style, Mrs. Miller gave me homework, and I finished it in class. One day Mrs. Miller ran out of classwork ideas to provide me with that; one day, she told me to help my classmates, but since I was only fourteen years old and did not know my future very well, I decided not to allow my classmates. Throughout my high school life, I regretted not helping my classmates until I had another lucky opportunity.
Throughout my high school life, I wanted to be a professional Call of Duty player. After graduating high school, I decided to pursue my gamer career until the end of October 2014. I decided to go to college. Unfortunately, the fall 2014 semester has already started, so I have to wait to enlist for the spring 2015 semester at College of the Mainland (the name of the college I went to at that time) in which was about twenty minutes from where I lived. I quickly started learning how to drive and gain my driver's license to go to college independently. During my spring 2015 semester, I got into intermediate algebra class and received my highest math exam ever, a 99 out of 100. I was happy about getting that grade but was also mad when I found out why I did not receive a 100. I did not receive a 100 because part two of a question I did not know about when I took the exam until I received my grade. After finishing that semester, I enroll in college algebra for summer 2015 in which was a five-week class, and it was too fast for me. Hence, I dropped out of it and enroll in college algebra for fall 2015 with professor Susan Morawski in which I receive an A in her class. How did I get another opportunity of helping my classmates? See, in that class, I taught myself the entire chapter over a weekend.
I was getting a 100 on my homework, quizzes, and good grades on my exams too, but during class, I came in to sit down in my seat, put my backpack down, and left the class physically. I got up, walked away from the course, talked to friends until the class was over, and picked my backpack after class. I was doing this for several weeks until one day, my professor stopped me and asked me a question. She asked me how I got perfect grades on homework, quizzes, and exams but never was in class. I told her I taught myself the entire chapter over the weekend, and I already knew the chapter before they started explaining, so I did not want to be bored and kept leaving her class. She could quickly drop me from the course, but I was lucky she did not because she offered me to help my classmates rather than keep leaving her class. I almost say 'no thanks' again until I got a flashback of Mrs. Miller asking me the same question, and I always regretted saying 'no thanks,' so I gave it a chance this time. There was another reason that made me become a tutor. I wanted to help anyone I can with something that I am good at, and I will never know what I am good at if I don't try it first. So I started helping my classmates before, during, and after class. See, my classroom was in front of the math lab, so I helped my classmates before and after class inside the math lab since it was near the school.
After tutoring my classmates at the math lab for several days, one of the math tutors stopped and asked me if I ever consider becoming a math tutor, and to be honest. I never knew a college student could become a math tutor at a college. I thought all math tutors at the college had at least a bachelor's, but I was wrong. This math tutor was a college student as well. Most of the math tutors there were college students, and I quickly said yes and started working as a math tutor from the spring 2016 semester until now (the time I started writing this). I still am and currently pursuing a teaching degree at a university. I changed my significant several times like everyone else. At first, I wanted to be a math major, then a math teacher major, and lastly, a liberal studies teacher preparation major with an emphasis on special education teachers. That is how I begin tutoring math, and now I tutor many subjects. I also do private tutoring and volunteer tutor for School on Wheels which is a tutoring service that tutors tutor math, English, science, and social studies to anyone who is in kindergartner to twelve grade and that are homeless, meaning living in a shelter, their cars, or constantly living in many places or live in a home for a limit of time. These kids probably switch to many schools and do not know how long they will stay in their schools because they move a lot, and that is where tutors come in (like myself) and help those online or in person. I started volunteering as a School on Wheels tutor when I moved to LA from Houston and still tutoring them. School on Wheels also provides school materials such as backpacks, pencils, pens, notebooks, rulers, and other school resources.
Here is a link that explains what School on Wheels does in a more specific description:
https://schoolonwheels.org/about-us/#sow-programs-and-services
Here is a 2-minute video explaining what School on Wheels is and how they help:
The times I was a tutor had taught me to learn the material very well to tutor or teach it, and teaching the materials had led me to have patience with students trying to learn at their own pace. After tutoring for a few years, I realize I want to become a teacher and started pursuing the path to become one. At times, it wasn't easy, but gladly I overcome it and continue walking the path as a teacher. I also had a great mentor and teacher that taught my dad and me to be a great teacher who was my mother, by the way. I will never forget the teacher's important goal is for the students to learn and not to teach the material. Yes, sometimes teaching the material is essential. Still, the most important is for the students to learn the material so they can obtain the information in their long memory box that is in their brain and help them to be successful in life throughout their lives and learn the importance of being an excellent civilized person in the world and that is why you and I have many great teachers throughout our life.
I highly recommend everyone never get out of their class during class time because you could be dropped from that class and interrupt the professor several times, and they will not like it at all. I encourage everyone to come to class prepared by reading the chapter before your professor has taught it. I have been doing this almost every class in every semester throughout my college life. If I could go tell my young self to help my classmates during high school, I would. Never miss an opportunity of a life like that because it rarely happens again. I was lucky that I had another chance and almost threw that opportunity again. Do yourself a favor and never miss an opportunity like that ever. If you did threw that opportunity, never live in regret and never throw another opportunity like that because you and I will never know how many opportunities we will have like that. I was lucky I had a second opportunity, but I could have never gotten a second opportunity.
Since the beginning of when I became a math tutor at College of the Mainland in Texas, I continued being a math tutor throughout my college career. Now, I tutor math at the Learning Center in Glendale Community College and oceanography, cultural geography, Spanish, and anthropology. I will continue increasing other subjects to tutor at in addition to continuing tutoring math. I only tutor pre-algebra, algebra, trigonometry, geometry, and precalculus to the math classes that I tutor at.
Now, I want to share with you stories to understand the importance of math and history and other classes to help you learn the material better. Despite hating or loving math, you and I always use it in our everyday activities such as walking, running, jogging, driving, riding a bike or skateboard, or any other transportation. See, you and I calculate in our brain the distance and our speed that we need to get to our destination as quickly as we can in a safe way. You may not realize it because you and I do not need to think about it as much. After all, our brain can do it alone unconsciously. For example, when I wake up, the first thing I do is walk to the nearest bathroom. I do not need to calculate the distance or the speed because the brain can do it alone. After all, we train our brains to do it by themselves. Math and physics (by the way, physics has more math than science) are classes that everyone hates or dislikes because, yes, it can be challenging at times. Despite the hate, we use them every day. It does not matter if it is calculus, trigonometry, geometry, algebra, basic math, or any other math class that is still math. The same goes for physics as well as other courses. You may ask when we will use the quadratic formula in our lives. I do not know either; I am kidding; I know it. The importance of learning the formula can be a good thing, but the most critical way is to solve it in many ways. There is more than one method to solve any math question, and it does not matter which method you use; at least you learn the strategies. Math teaches us that there is more than one way to solve any problem that we face in our lives, and we need to think fast which way is the most sufficient and better way to use it. For example, if you drive on a freeway and your car breaks down, what is the first thing you should do? Pullover away from traffic? Nope, wrong. The first thing is to pull over away from traffic in a safe manner. Then what you do? Try to see where the problem is. Then what? Try to fix it or call a family member or a friend to fix it for us or call a mechanic to do it. The mechanic probably will cost us money, but sometimes we need them. You see, without you knowing it, math has taught us to use the sufficient and safer way to solve a problem without thinking of math. This is called creative thinking, and math taught us that as well as how to use formulas. Each step of the formula taught us how to fix a problem with steps that we can have in our daily lives and taught us there is more than one correct answer. I hope your car never breaks down, but if one day it does happen, then that's how you can solve the problem in different ways.
I did not forget about history either. You may think history can be tedious and always look at the past as an opposing side of the world. But wrong. Yes, sometimes history does look at the negative side of a person or a thing, but there is a good history. I am sharing with you right now is some good and bad history of my life. History is meant to teach us the positives and the negatives ways of a person. Such as me sharing this so you or someone you know can learn from it and not make the same mistake that I did or learn the great memories so you and I can see the beauty of life before our time in this world runs out. Another example is if the world knew how Genghis Khan became an evil influential leader at his time, we probably acknowledge Adolf Hitler and not let him become one. Both leaders used different ways to govern their empire at a very different time, but they both share the same personality. Both have the charisma to persuade people to join their side. There are other kinds of personal or trigger that these two had that made them be an evil influential leader. Why do we learn them in school? Because you and I need to be civilized in this world? Yes, but there is another reason. If we learn the mistakes and the great things of someone else life, we can help anyone in their lives and make this country a better world to live in. I mean, you and I are both stuck living in this world, so it's better if we make this world better for our future civilization than it already is. Now, let's continue my dark story so you or someone else you know can learn the mistakes that I have made so far in life. Before we go there, we also need to understand that it is important to learn the history of the world or someone else's so the history negatively does no-repeat itself just in a positive way.
Before you go there, here is a link to donate money to School on Wheels if you can so this non-profit organization can continue helping homeless kids in LA: https://schoolonwheels.org/donate/
Check this website if you want to help School on Wheels in a different way, such as doing a fundraiser or other things: https://schoolonwheels.org/donate/school-on-wheels-virtual-supply-drives/