Thank you for visiting! I’d like to share a little about my journey and the experiences that have shaped me as an educator.

My path to becoming a math teacher was far from straightforward!

I was raised in Iran during a time of revolution and war. My childhood was marked by uncertainty, including food shortages, the loss of our home, and long periods when my father was away. When I was five years old, my older brother in high school had to flee the country to avoid military conscription, and I did not see him for a very long time. Through it all, my family’s love, resilience, and deep belief in the value of education gave me strength and hope.

After high school, I made the life changing decision to move to Southern California. I could not speak English, I had no financial resources, and I began working while starting my college journey in beginning algebra at a community college. Like many students, I was unsure of my direction at first and explored several majors before choosing mathematics.

While working full time in retail and managing the challenges of being a nontraditional student, I earned my associate degree from Saddleback College. I then transferred to UC Berkeley, where I completed a bachelor’s degree in pure mathematics and was one of the two women in my program. Later, I earned a master’s degree in mathematics from Cal Poly Pomona. As a graduate student, I had the opportunity to teach several math courses, and those experiences confirmed that teaching was where I truly belonged.

Today, I am proud to be a community college educator. I am passionate about helping students build confidence, discover their strengths, and achieve goals they may not have thought possible. My journey has taught me that perseverance, support, and self belief can carry us through even the most difficult circumstances.

If you are curious about the world I grew up in, I highly recommend reading or watching Persepolis. Marjane Satrapi’s experiences during that period are remarkably similar to my own, and her story captures many of the challenges, uncertainties, and everyday realities that shaped my childhood in Iran.

Thank you for taking the time to learn a little about me. I look forward to being part of your educational journey.