Teaching BU275 was a valuable experience for me, especially because the course combines quantitative methods with real-world decision making. One of my main goals was to make the mathematical parts of the course less intimidating and help students understand why we use a model before learning how to solve it.
I usually started each class with a short mini-skit or activity connected to the topic of the day. These were often inspired by a story, a song, a humorous situation, or a problem from everyday life.
Life is all about games…
In Spring 2024, I began independently teaching “Introduction to Mathematical Software” (Matlab, R, and Maple). The first session? Definitely stressful! The second session? Still stressful! But I reminded myself that this is a path walked by all teachers throughout history—no one escapes the nerves of teaching, and I was no exception. Over time, though, I found myself becoming more comfortable. “Comfortable” doesn’t mean stress-free; it means learning how to do my best in delivering lectures, while managing my inner anxiety.
In Fall 2024, I had the unique opportunity to teach the Optimization course to both undergraduate and graduate students. It was a great pleasure to meet so many talented and dedicated students from various fields of Business and Mathematics. The students were highly engaged and eager to see real-world applications of optimization theory, so I designed a project in which they were asked to present their work in a five-minute video.