Navigating the tides of teaching: Two educators, two different routines

Kristy Kazzi
Staff Writer

While Mohammed Abella, a math professor at WCC, and Samia Soboh, a math teacher at Quest Charter Academy elementary school may differ in age, their daily routines vary vastly as well.

Professor Abella faces a kaleidoscope of schedules—from one to four classes everyday. His classroom is full of students of different ages, from students barely out of high school to older students seeking the thrill of calculus in retirement.

With a dynamic schedule that is different every day, Abella embraces each day with a readiness to adapt and innovate.

Armed with extra topics for extra time, he steers his students through the ups and downs of mathematics, making sure no one falls behind, even if they miss a class.

“It’s a journey and we’re on the same boat,” is how Abella likes to refer to his students in class.

When it comes to Mrs. Soboh, her days are much more structured.

With a consistent schedule, she finds solace in the routine of planning, teaching, and nurturing.

Soboh says her favorite part of her job is when “students come up to me a few years later and thank me for making a difference in their lives, no matter how big or small.”

In the afternoon, after school, she stays twice a week to tutor students to make extra income.

These two teachers have different roles and responsibilities plus different work environments.

According to the School of Education, as the US population grows, so does the need for competent teachers—with estimates suggesting a rise from 1.29 million in 1955 to 3.39 million in public schools and 520,000 in private schools by 2029.

Despite their differences in routines, Abella and Soboh share a common thread: doing their part to fill that void.

Abella’s school year also doesn’t stop at the end of the winter semester either—teaching MTH 191: Calculus I and MTH 295: Differential Equations on Zoom during WCC’s upcoming spring/summer semester.

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