WASC Testimonials
Raul Escobar-Rodas
CSUDH Student, Mathematics, Computer Science Minor
Founder/President, CSUDH Math Club; Gateway Tutor, McNair Scholar
I’m an Undergrad and I’m a first-generation college student! I went to high school at Hollywood High which is about 25 miles away from campus, but I came to CSUDH because they showed that they wanted me to come over here. Actually, the other schools weren’t paying as much attention to me as CSUDH so I decided to come over here.
How did they let you know that they wanted you to come on over.
Well, I received letters and letters and letters from CSUDH and they kept on telling me okay this is what you have to do and they just kept updating me. I got maybe twice as many letters from CSUDH than I did the other schools. This is my fourth year here. I was a campus tour guide here at CSUDH and I worked at Outreach Services in the 2005-2006 Academic Year. Outreach Services, especially Kimberly Larson, contributed to my leadership skills that I have today. Today, I’m the Founder and current President of the CSUDH Math Club on campus and I don’t think without the leadership skills that I gained over there (Outreach Services), I don’t think I would have founded the club. I am also a current McNair Scholar here on campus. I will be doing mathematic research this summer. My Faculty Mentor is Dr. Stan Stan Yoshinobu. He’s showing me the ropes of what it is like to go to grad school and stuff like that.
Do you like it so far?
Oh yea! I love it. I can’t wait! Math is something that I believe I’ll be doing for the rest of my life so I’m going to study, study, and study.
What do you want to do with it?
I actually want to go into the field of statistics. I plan on being an actuary or take statistics and do statistics for sports.
How do you think your work as a tutor in the Center for Learning and Academic Support Services (C.L.A.S.S.) benefits you?
Working for C.L.A.S.S. helps me sharpen up my math skills. As a math major, I have to constantly be working and working on my math skills. My math skills have to stay sharp and I believe C.L.A.S.S. does that for me. I see about a couple of dozen people a week. I show them how to sharpen up their skills and at the same time sharpening mine. I’m also able to see math at a much deeper level. They help me see it at a much deeper level to help me better understand the concepts. Once you get to upper division math it is not about making computations. I haven’t made a computation in my upper division math in about a semester or so.
So what is it about?
It is all concepts. It is pretty much proof and logic. It is a lot of logic. I took a class last semester on Real Analysis, MAT 401 and we were proving all the concepts and ideas from basic Calculus.
How do you feel the student’s benefit from your interaction with them?
They are able to see me and when they come in and see me they say, “Wow, you are just a student!” and immediately they get more comfortable. A lot of students, they don’t like to go to tutoring because they believe it is going to come from somebody whose like maybe a professor, a teaching assistant or somebody along those lines, but they see me and they immediately say, “Oh, you’re just a student here.” They can relate because I’m their peer and I’ve been through everything that they have been through and it is more of a comfort thing. When people come in for math tutoring it’s not really because they do not understand, it’s just they do not have too much confidence with it. So when they come in its kind of psychological therapy I believe. They come in, we help them out and when they come out they leave with a lot more confidence.
- Donna Cruz