Musings on the Freshman Enhancement Program: why I completed this optional math class

Recognizing that first year students come from different high schools and educational backgrounds, the Ateneo Department of Mathematics has again rolled out the Freshman Enhancement Program (FrEP) to its new batch of math majors. This enhancement program is a series of lecture and problem-solving sessions that aims to provide a refresh and a restructure of students’ Precalculus skills, as they're easing their way into college-level calculus.

Our FrEP sessions were originally planned for five straight Wednesdays, beginning 21 August 2024. Sadly, classes were suspended on 28 August 2024 and 4 September 2024, so FrEP sessions had to be moved twice. Sessions 2 had to be conducted in the evenings (because some students have classes that end at 5pm). The rest of the sessions were conducted on Wednesday afternoons, as expected.

Despite the review classes being optional commitments, a number of math students still decided to stay on campus. All we can infer about their motives is that this might be their formal introduction yet to mathematical proof writing, they like spending time with their classmates, or want to take advantage of the light snacks that are being served at the beginning of every session.

While the snacks were indeed enticing for all the students, I was personally more excited to improve on my math skills and to bond with my blockmates (before our lectures and while doing the assigned problems). As I attend each FrEP session, I realized that I needed a stronger foundation in math. For instance, I may have some prior knowledge on irrational numbers, but I was delighted to know what an irrational number is on a philosophical level. There were also instances where I get to solve math problems that are unfamiliar to me (which gets me excited as I discover new styles and techniques in solving). The lectures in FrEP also helped in correcting common mistakes in problem-solving and misconceptions about certain math topics that were perhaps undetected in high school.

One of my blockmates, Enrico Miguel N Salvador (1 BS MA), echoes a similar reaction: "Even though I am already familiar with the topics that were taught in FrEP, there [were] moments where I still got enlightened. This is something I really appreciate in FrEP... I get to learn faster ways to do math, and proofs on why certain things in math are the way they are."

Spending extra hours on campus just for an optional math class speaks for itself - I enhanced my math skills, got acquainted with Ateneo math teachers, made friends with math majors in other blocks, and strengthened my passion for learning and doing math (or buttered bread! You can never tell.)

Thank you to Mr Janree Ruark Gatpatan (FrEP coordinator), and to Gelo Nery and Neil Cinco for the pictures.