NAOMI BYRD
Staff Writer
“I want people to see me as an actual person before I mention that I am a Math teacher. I will purposefully mention my occupation at the very end of a conversation because I don’t want to be judged.”
Those are the words of Pepperdine professor Carol Adjemian, but it is hard to imagine judgment being placed on a math teacher who has such a challenging and diverse background.
Adjemian was born in west Texas. Her father was in the Army, and her Armenian husband is from Alexandria, Egypt.
She was raised on a farm in Highland, N.Y. “My parents rented a house from a small Sicilian family who owned the land,” Adjemian recalled. “I remember in addition to raising animals, they even made their own wine.”
Alongside exploring the land, Adjemian enjoyed riding on the hay trucks, ice-skating on a neighboring pond, playing a pocketknife game called “Mummley Peg” and braving the backs of the milk calves.
“My favorite cow was a beautiful, brown-eyed cow named Easter. I had so much fun on that farm. You know, we skated in our boots on that pond, since we couldn’t afford ice skates!”
Adjemian admits that her parents had tough times. They were not able to buy a house until she was in the 10th grade.
“It always seemed like we had everything we needed, though.”
Adjemian and her family moved again, and she attended Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. She excelled in all her subjects—her only B was in creative writing.
“It was 80-90 percent” lower income,” she said. “There was only a small set of us, about 20-30 students, in the college track.”
Amid the challenging setting, Adjemian was grateful for the instruction.
“There were exceptionally fine teachers—a cut above.”
Inspiration for math came when Adjemian became a math professor’s assistant at her high school.
“I was able to learn fun things—you know, the audio/visual aspect. Then there was grading papers. I learned what to look for.”
Adjemian was given a first-hand example of a teacher that came alive to his students.
“He knew how to make math interesting. It was pure entertainment. There were a lot of students that were not really capable academically…so he dressed it up.”
Adjemian is fondly reminded of the movie “Stand and Deliver” when describing that season in her life.
“That movie was based on a true story—and filmed at the high school I attended. It is about a math teacher who uses unconventional teaching methods to inspire his students. Very fitting.”
“I left high school intending to be a pre-med major. Additionally, I was almost a physics minor. At the time, I did not think that I wanted to become a teacher.”
Adjemian stayed in the area and received her associate’s degree from East Los Angeles College. Continuing in her education, Adjemian attended California State Los Angeles. It was there that she met her future husband.
“He was a graduate student in my math class. He was good. I was a teacher’s assistant for that class…and boy, his math was beautiful.
“There’s no way out of it—it was immaculate,” she said with a chuckle. “I almost fell in love with him just from reading his papers.”
After receiving her bachelor’s degree from Cal State Los Angeles, Adjemian adds,
“I got my Master’s from U.C. Davis, one week later, I got my Mrs.”
The journey continued. Within three short months, and with $500 in their pocket, the couple moved to Buffalo, N.Y.
“We thought that was so much money. After one half- month’s rent, the utility, gas and electric bill, we had no money left.”
That move only lasted four years. Adjemian’s teaching assistantship had long completed. California weather beckoned, and her husband’s job transfer took them back to Los Angeles.
After receiving her Ph.D. from UCLA., Adjemian found her way in Malibu.
“I was in the search committee that hired her in 1981,” according to colleague Don Thompson.
“She is a teacher who is known to give a lot of attention to students…making herself available all the time and being very conscientious. She is also known to be hard and demanding—this is math. She doesn’t coddle students. She does, however, bend over backwards for them, wanting them to succeed.”
Thompson went on to describe Adjemian’s involvement in putting together a weekly afternoon tea…even a math formal. Adjemian also has a rare talent.
“She can write on the board faster than students can take notes. I have heard that she writes at Mach 2 speed, and speaks at Mach 3. Her handwriting is by no means sloppy, however. It is immaculate, terse and clean.”
Harry J. Pappas describes his colleague as a “terrific, special person. If I were to name a couple people that I highly regard, she would always be on the list. She is a fantastic woman.”
Dr. Pappas even came up with a song for Adjemian. “The title of it is ‘Accentuate the Positive, Eliminate the Negative.’ It fits her perfectly.”
According to Poppas, Adjemian is very encouraging and complimentary. She also has a wonderful sense of humor.
Mirroring her colleagues, one of Adjemian’s students describes her as being “very helpful outside of class. I had to work a lot, but think this class will definitely help me as a business major.”
Adjemian is not your typical Math teacher. She brings a lot to the table when it comes to life experience and the desire for her students to succeed.
05-18-2007
