Yu-Kuan Lin, 10th Grade Algebra 1
Jaime Escalante Mathematics Teacher Awards 1996
Teacher: Diana Fedrick, Casimir Middle School, Torrance Unified School District
When is a teacher not only a teacher? When is a friend not merely a friend? When is a special person not just special but a place in your heart?
For me, my math teacher was much more than an instructor: she was a friend, mentor, a patient, caring, compassionate soul always ready to listen and share her wisdom and friendship altruistically. She was a spark. She ignited a fire inside me, a desire to pursue knowledge and excellence.
I have always been an above-average student. School was easy, and I never had to work very hard, meeting the minimum requirements and working no further. Yet I always felt something was missing.
I felt bored and empty until a pivotal point in my life. I learned I might be traveling and studying in a foreign country where mathematics was years beyond what I was doing, where I might fail in a subject in which I had never worked hard yet always took pride.
I panicked. So I went to my teacher. Patiently, she listened as I spilled out my fear and anxiety. Then she said something that changed my life forever: "Yu-Kuan, I believe in you, and I know you can do it, but first you'll have to believe in yourself." She then handed me geometry and algebra textbooks, and I began a course of self-study with her help.
The first couple of months were grueling. I had difficulty understanding and would sometimes be so frustrated that I wanted to throw up, but my teacher patiently helped me through. We would take a little step today, a little step tomorrow, a little more the day after that. I was astonished at what I could do by myself.
Algebra II and Geometry humbled my intellectual pride, but my teacher helped me realize my true potential, gain confidence in myself, discover my passion for learning, and see mathematics in a new light. Math was not only everywhere, it was fun!
I began to see connections between math and any topic you can think of from biology to physics, music, art, and even tennis. Each day I was excited to find out what new knowledge would be revealed.
I ended up staying in America but decided to apply for the California Academy of Math and Science and was accepted. I am currently taking calculus at Cal State Domínguez Hills as a high school sophomore, something that would not have been possible without my math teacher.
The self confidence, the work ethic, and the passion for knowledge I gained will benefit me for the rest of my life thanks to a teacher who was not just a teacher, not just a friend, but a lighthouse that showed me a path in my most urgent time of need.
