Growing up in Kirkland with a father who was an Electrical Engineering professor at the University of Washington – math was always encouraged. In fact, if my homework was problems #1-35 odd, my dad would say “you should do the even ones as well”. When I was in 7th grade Algebra, the teacher had the audacity to tell the parents (my dad included) that “Algebra is hard – especially for girls”. My dad made it his personal mission to make sure I got an A in that class – which I did! At that time, I found my love for math. I loved that there was a order and a system to the equations, that when the answer was found you could plug in the solution and confirm it was the correct answer. I received a B.S. in Math with a concentration in Computer Science from the University of Washington and then while working at Boeing I earned an M.S. in Electrical Engineering.

I enjoy teaching math to kids – helping them to learn that there isn’t always one way to solve a problem. To believe that yes! they can do math. I admit – I have an affinity for middle school girls learning algebra – because I feel that even 40 years later there is still a misconception among girls that “math is hard”, or it isn’t cool.

So many careers require math – I want kids to learn that they don’t have to limit themselves.