Galladande 1

Freddie Galladande
9/7/14
Math Jam Reflection
Everyone thought math jam is going to be similar to a regular math classroom where the
teacher lectures and the students listen. Well, the bad part about math jam is that it is 8 hours long. I
didnt think anyone would want to sit in a classroom for 8 hours. Some of my friends didnt like to attend
math jam but the idea of attaining prior registration for Pasadena City College grabbed their attention.
Well, I think most of the first year pathway students attended math jam thinking of way.

In the first day of math jam, we were put in to a crowded classroom of about 120 students
based on the math class we registered for. The professor lectured for a few minutes and then quizzed
us. The professor was energetic and funny, so I didnt seem to get bored. He had some students
accompanying him, which he mentioned them to us as our coaches. They were also friendly and helpful
in class. The class was separated into groups of 16 people in each and each group was led by one of the
coaches. My group was led by Santos Martinez. His appearance showed that he is the kind of guy who is
extremely chill and funny. My assumption was correct. I really did like the class of 16 people rather than
being in a class full of people. I really started liking math jam even though we had to learn some math.
Learning math is simply solving calculation through arithmetic and critical thinking. Math jam was
different. We did a lot of fun activities through mathematics. Overall, Santos has taught us a lot about
what to expect in college and how to prepare for them. He gave us wonderful advice about ways of
studying, time management and things to avoid.

I also made quite a lot of new friends. Some of them includes, Andy Sett, Karim Hajjar,
Pauline Demerjian, Nyree, etc. We all made this math jam experience a lot better than what expected it
to be. There was a time I had met Andy before. It was during a track meet at Arcadia High School 2 years

ago and we happen to be on the same race. We had a friendly conversation during the track meet. We
actually didnt notice that we met before. We all had a conversation about sports and Andy mentioned
that he raced at Arcadia High Pre-season track meet. Since I went to Arcadia High, I remembered that
we race against La Salle. This reminded me that we met before. Most of us in my math jam class are
athletes or pre-athletes. We all got along pretty well.

We were introduced to helpful campus resources including Teaching Learning Centre, which
is a tutoring center created specifically to pathway students only. I plan on making use of this resource
to build up my skills and have a bright college journey. I plan on visiting TLC often, especially before the
day of a test.

Math jam was a great way to start off college. It has helped me on taking the right step in
college and pursuing it with caution. I learned quite a handful of things I never knew before. First I
assumed that math jam will be boring and will only give prior registration. My assumption was wrong
because math jam was the best experience in college.