Know Your Profs is an ongoing series of articles helping you get to know the instructors at Camosun College a bit better. Got someone you want to see interviewed? Email editor@nexusnewspaper.com and we’ll get on it.
This time around we caught up with mathematics instructor Bogdan Verjinschi and talked about the struggles of teaching math, thank-you letters, and education via pills.
1: What do you teach and how long have you been a teacher at Camosun?
I teach mathematics and I have been teaching at Camosun since 2001.
2: What do you personally get out of teaching?
I actually enjoy teaching math and I am very pleased when I can help my students understand the material we need to cover. I get a lot of enjoyment in seeing their faces lit up when they “get it”: when they understand fully the concepts I present to them.
3: What’s one thing you wish your students knew about you?
Although a difficult subject, math is very useful in peoples’ lives. I am aware of how apprehensive students might be about this subject, and I am here to help them.
4: What’s one thing you wish they didn’t know about you?
Where I park my car. No, no, I’m just joking.
5: What’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you as a teacher here?
Not one, not two, but 15 thank-you letters I received in one day.
6: What’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to you as a teacher?
“What’s the point to all these computations?” This was a question asked by a student well into the course.
7: What do you see in the future of postsecondary education?
Long into the future, students get their education through pills purchased in learning dispensaries. The pills are generally very small, but the math pill is very large: even in the future, math may be a little hard to swallow.
This, of course, is pure fiction, just an old math joke.
8: What do you do to relax on the weekends?
Usually, I go for long walks, or go hiking, or just share quality time with family and friends.
9: What’s your favourite meal?
Japanese food.
10: What’s your biggest pet peeve?
Noisy motorcycles.
he was the best my professor and i had the chance to be his student with many, many years ago… 1986-1987