Amie Bertrand conquers math anxiety!

Who would believe that Amie Bertrand ever suffered from Math Anxiety? Amie, who is about to complete a Statistics course at Coastline, explains that her own persistence in finding what works for her combined with help from her volunteer tutor at Amador College Connect has helped her overcome severe Math Anxiety to succeed. When Amie relocated to Amador County from the Bay Area in 2015 to be closer to family she started to investigate college programs that would help her get to nursing school eventually. Through Amador College Connect, Amie worked with academic counselors at Coastline Community College to identify its online Sociology A.A. program that would prepare her to enter nursing school. Fortunately, Amie found help through Amador College Connect’s free tutoring service. Now only weeks away from completing her fourth college math class, Amie explains that she meets with her tutor, Howard Webb, about once per week and that he “helps me understand and makes himself available by email and phone.” Amie says of Howard, “He is amazing!” In addition to seeking tutoring help, Amie advises students who may be postponing further education due to Math Anxiety to be flexible and find the tools that work for them. For instance, Amie explains that she finds the online e-Texts difficult to work with and prefers to use an actual physical textbook to work through. She also uses YouTube videos and other online resources. Amie also believes that students must persist in finding the right way to make math work for them. She has learned that if she reads and talks aloud through a math problem, she can work it more easily. Amie even uses the quiet room at Amador College Connect’s Jackson office to take her exams so that she can read the problems aloud without bothering anyone. Wherever Amie goes from here, she is bound to succeed. Congratulations, Amie!