PrepNow Tutor - Carolyn C.
A welcoming tutor and math professor, Carolyn loves teaching and helping her students grow. She holds a BA in mathematics and a BS in statistics from Winona State University and an MS in mathematics from Washington State University. Carolyn has taught college-level math for over thirty years and has tutored for over fifteen years. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Winona State University.
“Even as a little girl I was teaching,” Carolyn says, recalling how she’d set up lessons for her younger brothers and even create homework assignments for her dolls. “I come from a long line of teachers thus it was natural to follow that path. I started teaching professionally right out of graduate school and have been doing it ever since.” Carolyn is deeply passionate about teaching and loves seeing students process new ideas. “It warms my heart when I can help a student through something they previously didn't understand,” she says. Throughout her career, she has taught thousands of students across all areas of mathematics, including basic arithmetic, pre-algebra, college algebra, trigonometry, calculus 1 and 2, introductory statistics, and more.
When tutoring, Carolyn aims to guide the students through their learning, rather than simply showing the students how to do the problem. “Math is always better learned by doing than by watching,” Carolyn explains. “The best way to learn math is to practice. Math is a skill. It is not something that can easily be memorized; thus the more problems a student does the more proficient they become.” Throughout her lessons, she frequently asks her students questions to determine understanding. Carolyn prides herself in having heard from many students that they have enjoyed learning with her. “It is an honor as there are many students who do not like math,” she shares. “With my many years of experience, I have learned how to read students and find the best way to explain an idea to help them gain the understanding they need.”
As a student, Carolyn was on the swim team and track team. As a mother, her children were in volleyball, basketball, football, and softball. Carolyn is an avid gardener and has many flower beds and vegetable gardens. She loves to do landscaping projects and preserves her vegetables by canning and freezing. “I have two cats,” Carolyn shares “The first one we named Smokey, after the smokey Swiss cheese that we bought at the farm he was at and his gray fur color. When I asked my kids what we should name our second cat, my son said that every Smokey needs a Bandit.”
