I always loved math. It always made sense, no matter how I did it. I remember learning long division from my sister at age 5. I remember devising a new, more efficient way to divide in the 4th grade. I can remember memorizing 500 digits of Pi (almost all of which I’ve forgotten by now) and I can remember unknowingly discovering Dijkstra’s method for a minimal path tree.
It’s always been there for me, but even more importantly there were two specific teachers who stand out who changed the world of math around me and in the process became two friends that I will never forget.
For this second installment of my tributes to friends pre-Hopkins, I’d like to introduce to all of you John King and Joseph Iwanski, two teachers of mine at my high school.
I came to Dwight-Englewood in 9th grade, a hotheaded (both in the redheaded and mathematical-ego senses), tall student, eager to prove myself. Mr. King was my math teacher for the year and we went through applications of algebra, quadratic functions, matrix manipulation, and a plethora of other subjects. By the end of the year, I loved math, but no more than I had before. Mr. King had sparked new ideas in my mind, but I wasn’t able to apply them to anything yet. I needed more tools to expand.
Sophomore year came around and I took AP Computer Science. Mr. Iwanski taught this course. I had never programmed before and while I became an avid programmer, I hadn’t put math and computers together yet. I hadn’t realized their potential as a pair. Sophomore year came to an end and I still hadn’t made the leap from my love for math to my obsession.
Second semester junior year is where this story really begins. I took Advanced Topics in Computing with Mr. Iwanski. A 6 student class, we were taught and explored Python. After about a week, we were introduced to ProjectEuler.net, a site to solve mathematical questions using self-written computer programs. In an instant, I was obsessed. There was no stopping me.
The never ending quest to solve all of them.
Now I could go on for months about how Project Euler changed my life, but this is about Mr. King and Mr. Iwanski, isn’t it?
For the next year and a half I spent half of my life badgering the two of them with mathematical help to further my knowledge for those problems. I asked them in class, out of class, in their offices, over e-mail, and I even tried smoke signals once although I’m not sure they ever got the message.
They embraced my enthusiasm and set aside more time than was really necessary in order to help me. Granted, there were many times where I just had too many questions for a 24 hour day, but we had some incredible thinking sessions. They had so many answers, and when they didn’t we worked them out. I can’t thank them enough for all the time they devoted to me and all the help they gave me. They encouraged my passion and I can safely say that I am a different man thanks to these two incredible friends.
My senior year, I was lucky to have both of them at once in Non-Linear Dynamics and Linear Algebra, taught by Mr. Iwanski and Mr. King respectively.
In the first one, Mr. Iwanski put mathematics and computers into one whole, building on our knowledge until we could paint masterpieces using simple equations. We broke the bounds of y=mx+b and delved into imaginary spaces. We questioned the efficiency of the binary system and we reasoned whether anything could be considered random. He spoke to us, the class of 7, as though we were equals, asking for our ideas as much as he told us his. He left time after class to speak with him and his door was always open. He wrote one of my college recommendations and helped me choose to attend Hopkins.
A zoom in on the Mandelbrot Set in a program I built thanks to Mr. Iwanski's tutelage. Who knew math could build art?
In Linear Algebra, Mr. King took us to new dimensions, finite and infinite. He asked us whether y=mx+b could even be considered linear when b wasn’t equal to 0. He taught us the applications of Markov Chains and how we could solve chemical equations using linear algebra. He coped with all my nonsense questions that were extremely tangential in the middle of class and knew that after class he could expect at least 1 or 2 questions before I was satisfied. Just like Mr. Iwanski, Mr. King was more than happy to write a recommendation for me.
Never doubt the King.
I can’t tell you how much I miss these two people. They believed in me from the start and pushed me forward. We keep in touch by e-mail from time to time and I saw them when I visited home over winter break. So raise your glasses to these two incredible men who changed the way I think, changed the way I understand, and directly changed who I will become. A mathematician. A programmer. A logician. And a better person.
All the best to you John and Joe.
Alex
Exclamation point count: 2
Critically-acclaimed writer and parenting/education speaker
