Mathematics
Spring 2009
Pere Jackson is a second-year graduate student at the IU-Bloomington Department of Mathematics. He returned to academia after a 3-year stint with the New York Teaching Fellows following college. After majoring in Economics at Lehman College (CUNY), Pere taught mathematics to students at an underserved New York City high school while earning a master’s degree in education. Upon completion of that experience, Pere decided to pursue an advanced degree in mathematics, in part to contribute to the field of math education.
High school teachers of his own kindled Pere’s interest in further study of math and economics. A persistent pre-calculus teacher concerned herself with Pere’s performance in class. His economics teacher gave him books to read about great thinkers of the past, stimulating his love of knowledge. This compelled Pere toward intellectual pursuits and is a reason why he now pursuing a doctorate. He enjoys the study of the mathematical concepts that most of us never end up contemplating. However, he wants to dispel the notion that math is harder than other subjects, attributing the majority success in math to effort and perseverance.
ARNULFO PEREZ
Mathematics
Fall 2007
Arnulfo Perez is a first-year Ph.D student in the Department of Mathematics at Indiana University-Bloomington. He received a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics with a minor in Computer Science from the University of Texas at El Paso.
After graduating, Arnulfo worked as a medical technologist at the Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital. As a technologist, he focused on serology, blood bank, hematology, and chemistry. The work was complicated and sophisticated, but he found that he missed using his mathematical skills. When, after two years, the job became unfulfilling, he knew it was time to move on.
Following a friend’s advice, Arnulfo earned an alternative teaching certificate and taught at an inner city high school in Texas. As a teacher, Arnulfo thrived on the challenge of pushing kids to achieve their full potential and not become involved in drugs or end up incarcerated. His enjoyment was not only in teaching but also in mentoring.
"The most amazing part of teaching was the knowledge that I was leaving a mark on the kids that would help them graduate and pursue a college degree."
In the summer of 2006, he participated in, Research Experiences for Greater Houston High School Science and Math Teachers (RET). This program exposed him to university-level research which he was able to take back to his students, encouraging them to pursue a research career in engineering through math and science.
Arnulfo chose Indiana University-Bloomington because of the many resources available that would enable him to succeed. He also appreciates Bloomington’s comfortable small-town atmosphere. He has found IU faculty and staff to be helpful, easy to talk to, and understanding of his interests and needs. Although undecided about which research area to pursue, he is interested in numerical analysis programming and approximation of solutions to equations based on initial data.
Having enjoyed teaching young people, Arnulfo would ultimately like to teach in a university setting, but is planning his career one step at a time.
He left these lasting words for anyone interested in pursuing a graduate degree: "Try. All they can say is 'No.'"
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