About
What is (a) MathSamurai?
Miyamoto Musashi once wrote in The Book of Five Rings (renowned for its appeal to ancient and modern Warriors alike), that in one thing we should really learn 10,000 things.
This may sound like a hokey archaic proverb with no direct application to real life. Notice thought that, if anything, the opposite appears true: you spend hours and hours in class and home learning about 10,000 things, all from which you are meant to glean some one special insight into what’s going on or how it even matters. More or less, the modern education system most of us have grown up in appears to run the course directly opposed to Musashi’s advice.
A MathSamurai, therefore is someone who can see the trees for the forest and knows where to draw the line between the education system and the process of learning. The MathSamurai knows how to see past the minutiae and recognize those hidden patterns that are at the heart of real math and true learning. The MathSamurai knows exactly what to do with a problem she’s never seen before or has never studied. Or, at the very least, she knows exactly how to start working towards a strategy to solving it.
Know someone who has gotten a high score on their math test or the ACT/SAT with apparently minimal effort? Are they just smart, or have they simply discovered the principles of true learning? You may simply have seen the marks of a MathSamurai doing what they do best: cutting down the enemy using the simplest of measures and with the least of stress. Now it’s your turn to learn how to do the same…
Kelsey Phillip Payne
Kelsey (“KP”) graduated magna cum laude in 2006 with a degree in philosophy and minors in Japanese studies and religion from Gustavus Adolphus College. As part of his degree, he trained in critical thinking, analytical essay writing, and formal predicate logic, an education enriched all the more by his chosen advanced interdisciplinary academics track and year of studying abroad at Kansai Gaidai University, Japan. His inspiration for becoming an educator was drawn from flame to fire through the opportunity to present his undergraduate thesis (on the logical consequences of meme theory) to a panel in the Minnesota Students Society of Philosophy.
KP first began tutoring through an elementary school outreach reading program and volunteer ESL service at his local community center before returning to Japan to work on the Japan Exchange Teaching (JET) Program as an assistant ESL instructor in various public junior high and elementary schools. He also served as activities director and lead English teacher for all ages at a privately owned school called Mitoyo International Exchange, Inc, as well as online. He has over 1000 hours of in-person and online tutoring in mathematics, languages, test prep, and philosophy.
Interested in tutoring with KP? Go here…
