New year new teacher; Ms. Solval

Ms. Solval seated behind desk in her math classroom.

One of the most recent teachers to Estancia High School, Linda Solval, a math teacher, is someone who is determined to help her students learn and grow in every possible way for math.

Mrs. Solval is a new teacher transferred from Godinez High School in Santa Ana. She currently teaches Algebra 1 and Geometry. Being a teacher wasn’t her dream from the start but she came to the decision later in life. Once she realized her passion for math, she knew that becoming a math teacher was the way to go.

In her free time, one of her favorite things to do is read. If she hadn’t become a math teacher she said she probably would have chosen to become a language arts teacher. Those are two very different subjects but as long as she's able to share her experiences and teach others, she feels accomplished. What first started as a desire to help people has become a life-long career for her.

Ms. Solval teaching during a math class.

But what made her love math? According to Ms. Solval, math had drawn her in from the very start:

“I always loved math. Math has been my favorite subject since kindergarten. I like the challenge. Sometimes math can be very hard and frustrating but once you solve a really hard problem, that level of satisfaction is just so cool.”

Her love and dedication for math shows exactly why she decided to teach math in the first place. She wants to share the feeling of self-fulfilment that comes from solving a problem with students. Along with wanting to give students more hope for math and not just immediately give up.

“I want people to see that math isn't as scary as some people think it is. Like it is doable, and I just kind of want people to be a little bit more happy and excited to do math. I think that's the biggest reason I wanted to become a teacher.”

“When am I ever going to use this in real life?” ,“Bro this is hard, I give up, I’ll just become a super senior.” These are common reactions that students have when faced with a difficult problem. The truth is that math is a hard subject. But Ms. Solval is teaching her students that once you put hard work and dedication, you will realize that the only thing holding you back is the mentality you have about math. Because of passionate teachers like Ms. Solval, students can experience the same hardworking self-fulfillment that brought Ms. Solval to us in the first place.