Behind the Mathematical Mind of Eli Gomez

Eli Gomez is AISG’s Head of Math and has been at the school for over 4 years. His early days in school influenced his vision about math and inspired him to become what he is today.

 

His love of math first started out in high school when his very strict math teacher, urged him to become more dedicated towards mathematics. “He was very tough and very strict. And he was also very direct he wouldn’t sugar coat bad news for me,” He said “So basically when I started that high school. I wasn’t as dedicated as I should be, and he told me that. I started studying math hard and then I started liking it.”

 

This love doing of math quickly turned into a love for teaching it as well. He would spend his breaks teaching friends and other classmates’ math. “Every break time there was a group of people and the teachers thought it was awkward because instead of playing ping pong or something, they were interested in doing homework and I was the teacher.” He said.

 

He found this passion for teaching very early on in school. When he realized that he enjoyed working with people and helping others to understand concepts. “Before I started working, I chose to be a teacher,” he said.

 

Nearly all of his subjects in university were math related. And he ended up doing his masters in Math Education.

 

Mr. Gomez had many different offers from companies in fields like finance, engineering, and banking. But he turned them down as his passions lay elsewhere in helping others learn math.

 

“I realized I liked working with people and I really enjoyed teaching, it’s really rewarding for me,” he said “I liked teaching my friends, I had like a vision. Like this is what I want. I had a lot of respect, people respected me. I realized how important it was to teach people.”

 

Mr. Gomez wants students to succeed and does everything he can to help them succeed in math.

 

“In the short term my favourite part is helping a student understand a difficult concept,” he said “In the long run and most importantly my favourite part is when I realize I influenced a student’s life. That’s the most impactful.”

 

“Usually, a student is not doing well in math because in the past something happened, like changing schools or not a good connection with teachers,” he said, “Sometimes they come to me and start liking math and then start enjoying math and then I show them they can do math and their self-esteem increases and the moral is boosted.”

 

Mr. Gomez is a firm believer that “every student can learn”. This to him is very important, and is always kept in mind when teaching and helping students.