Welcome

Hi, everyone. My name is Jeff Mudrock, and I am a junior at the University of Illinois. My major is mathematics with a minor in secondary education. My hometown is New Lenox, which is southwest of Chicago, near Joliet. My parents are both high school math teachers, so from an early age, mathematics education has been prominent in my life. I decided I wanted to become a high school math teacher early in high school. I chose this career because I wanted to do something with my life that would allow me to help young people and would allow me to do mathematics. When I told my parents that I wanted to become a high school math teacher, they gave me their blessings and seemed happy with my decision. I am very excited to be taking education courses at the University of Illinois because I feel that the university has a great mathematics education program from which I can learn a lot to improve my teaching skills before I set foot into my first high school classroom. I also love the mathematics courses that I have taken and am taking because these classes have continued to confirm my belief that mathematics is the most beautiful field one can possibly enter. My passion for mathematics is like a blazing fire within me that will never die. In the future, I plan to get a masters degree in pure mathematics from the University of Illinois immediately following my graduation in 2010. I then plan to teach for a few years in high schools while working on a doctorate in pure mathematics during the summers and in my spare time. All in all, I am very excited about where I am at in my life and am taking my time enjoying it.