I chose to pursue a teaching degree in mathematics because I love the fundamentals that come along with learning math topics. Math is an important part of our life and is one of the essentials needed to get careers in this world. As someone who wants a better future for our children, I wanted to do a teaching degree in math so that I could help kids learn about the basic math skills that they need so that they can excel in their school life as well as their career life. You will find math in almost every career and everyone must know how to do the basic math skills so that they can go out into this world and get their dream job and pursue the interests that they have. A mathematics degree can also be quite useful in today's world because everywhere you go, math is going to be there. We do math every day in our life even if we don't realize it at times. Math has always been one of my strongest subjects throughout my school years and I always loved learning new techniques on how to solve problems and find necessary solutions. I want students to learn problem-solving skills and math is the best subject that can teach them. Learning about math and how to find solutions throughout my learning made me want to continue my degree to where I want others to learn about how crucial learning math is in everyday life. You will always use math on a day-to-day basis and it is important to me that my students understand the fundamentals they need so that they can achieve what they want in life successfully. Math also brings new challenges every day. When you work in a math area, you see things that you've never seen before and it gives you a great opportunity to learn as well. My journey to pursue a math degree is filled with so much learning and knowledge gaining and I know that even after I've gotten my degree, I will still be learning and applying new concepts in my classroom because it is an ongoing experience that will never stop. I want to make math a subject that everyone sees as important to life and that learning about it can be enjoyable and a life changer.

The Rest of Us by Simple Plan because this song is a dedication for the people who do not fit in with the "standards" that others perceive of them and who do not feel that they fit into today's society. This song reminds me that we are all made differently and that we should embrace our differences and not let others opinions about us make up our own life. We shouldn't frame our lives on how others what us to live but rather live for ourselves instead of trying to fulfill expectations of others which can never happen. No matter how hard you try to please others, there will always be people who just won't be satisfied so it's best that you live for yourself and do what you want to do. One of my favorite lines in the song is "I confess, I'm a mess. I'm perfectly dysfunctional." I truly love these words within this song because none of us are perfect. Nobody is perfect in this world. We all go through ups and downs during our lives which brings out the goods and bad within us but we should learn to overcome them. It's a reminder that even if you make mistakes that's okay because it happens. The best thing to do is learn from them and continue on. This song is such a motivation for me because its a dedication to everyone who isn't seen as "normal" within society and how they should live for themselves and not others.

Math has always been one of my favorite subjects. There is so much you can learn from math and numbers will always be a big part of your life. Being someone who is doing a teaching degree in mathematics, I find it important to teach children all they need to know about the skill. Math is one thing that will always follow you in life. Anywhere you go, you will be applying the math concepts that you have learned throughout your life and as someone who is going to become a future teacher I find it important and necessary that all children learn how to do the basic levels of math. Another thing would be the many different ways you can teach as well as learn math. Nowadays with all these new technologies you can find a fun way to explore math topics and learn from them. Look at Brilliant.org for example. Brilliant is such a great website to use when learning about math and there are many ways you can play around with the tools to understand key principles that are being taught. There isn't a singular way to teach math and that is why I want to become a math teacher so that I can teach students all the different ways they can learn math. So I can teach them that there are multiple ways in which they can solve a problem and still be able to get the solution. One important key note is to realize that not all students learn the same way so my finding different and creative ways to teach mathematics to students, they may start to like the subject even more and find that math isn't as bad as most of them think it is. I want students to be able to enjoy their learning and actually comprehend and think about the material instead of just completing it. I want to make math fun for them so that they are learning and grasping what is being taught versus doing the work just because they need to pass the class and move on. Being someone who is quite passionate for math, I want to be able to change the thinking of children and help them embrace math as fun subject instead of a subject that they do not want to do.

Since I am pursuing a teaching degree, I'm aiming to help students get a better education. I'm hoping to provide children a foundation so that they are able to achieve their dreams and goals. Every child should have an equal opportunity to be educated and pursue their career goals. At the moment I am working at a math tutoring center where we tutor children who need help in math as well as enriching the skills they already have. We provide them with the support to help them understand math concepts that they are struggling in and try different learning materials to help them grasp the knowledge. As someone who wants to become a future educator, I want to help create a path for all children so they can get the quality education they need. Another reason why I would want to become a teacher is so I can help promote education to a higher degree. I want to be able to change the education system for the better so that students are learning what they need to learn in order to be successful. I want students to learn what is necessary and beneficial for them instead of having to learn topics that they will never look back at ever again. I want to make sure that students take courses that are only necessary to their degree field because those are the subjects that they should excel in. Students shouldn't be forced to take subjects that will not be beneficial to their career fields. Yes they should have knowledge but most of their focus should be on the career that they are going in. I would also want to help change the system by making sure that the people understand that they shouldn't just pass students along to the next grade if they don't understand the concepts. One problem we have in this system is that if a student fails a class or even a test then they are still promoted to the next grade which shouldn't happen at all. The education system shouldn't just pass a student because when they get higher into their grade levels, they start struggling more. I've seen it first hand when I tutor students that some of them don't know how to do the basics and they are in high school. That's not their fault, it's the systems for passing them along but I want to change that. I want students to succeed in all areas and I want to do that when I start teaching. I want to make sure that all my students understand what they are learning and provide them with extra help when they need it. I want them to learn the material and apply it to the world instead of learning about it just to pass a class. Every child deserves an education but it's important to understand that the education that they are receiving should help them and lead them to their success.