Tejal Naik

Languages Spoken

English, Hindi, Gujrati, Marathi

Favorite Quote

"Life does not require that we be the best, only that we try our best."

First Year at West Valley

1997

Favorite place on campus

Science and Math building of course! :-)

Affinity Words/ At-Promise Factors

First-generation, Immigrant, women in STEM

Biography

Born and brought up in Mumbai, India I immigrated to the USA in 1991and completed my Masters in Applied Math at NJIT(New Jersey Institute of Technology). After getting married, I moved to the beautiful Bay area in 1995 and it has been home ever since. I love the weather, the food as well as the easy-going culture.

Early in my career, I made the decision to be a full-time mom and so have been teaching part-time at various community colleges in the Bay area. Currently, I teach at West Valley College, Evergreen Valley College, and of course, Gavilan. I have taught the entire range of math courses from Basic Math to Calculus and Statistics offered at Community Colleges. Teaching is not just my passion, it is bred in the bone. My mom was a professor. My maternal grandmother was a school principal and my aunts both on my mother and father's side were/are teachers. So becoming a teacher was inevitable! I love teaching and sincerely and passionately believe that learning is a lifelong endeavor.

When I am not teaching math or being a mom of three, I spend time gardening, reading, knitting, and watching Netflix/PrimeVideo/HBOGo/Movies. My all-time favorite movie/TV series is Star Trek with MCU a close second.

I consider myself lucky to call the Bay Area home. But for most of my life, I rarely paid attention to the natural wonder that makes it unique. Recently though, I have started exploring the bay area hiking and biking trails and it has given me a new lens for how I see my backyard. I will never take it for granted again.

Teaching Experience

Currently, I teach a variety of math courses at West Valley and Evergreen Valley College.

In addition I am a volunteer teacher and coordinator of SAT prep course for high school students offered at BAYVP Temple in Milipitas

Education

M.S in Applied Math from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. I transferred into their accelerated BS/MS program, completing both BS and MS in 3 years.

Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics (Minor: Physics) from K. J. Somaiya College of Science, Mumbai, India

Certified in Online Teaching and POCR.