After 22 years of teaching, Arcadia High School (AHS) math teacher Ms. Jean Hong is retiring, having inspired students through both her math lessons and life stories.

Ms. Hong began her teaching career in 2003. This year Ms. Hong taught Algebra 1 and Algebra 2. Before becoming a teacher, Ms. Hong worked in information technology at a bank. After working there, Ms. Hong took a 10 year work gap to focus on raising her two kids.

“When my kids started going to school… I figured I wanted to do something,” Ms. Hong shared. “So I went back to school to get my teaching credential at Mount Saint Mary’s University in West Los Angeles for undergraduate school and Claremont Graduate University.”

During her time at AHS, Ms. Hong became appreciated not only as a math teacher, but also as a person with stories and valuable life lessons to share with her students.

“I had Ms. Hong for Algebra 1 and Algebra 2,” said junior Tina Zhou. “In [class], she would always share her life experiences and thoughts with us, which was always interesting to hear, as it was a way for her to help us succeed.”

“I had Ms. Hong for Algebra 2. Ms. Hong is funny and always told us stories and jokes during class, which helped our focus,” said junior Christina Chen.

Additionally, Ms. Hong stood out to students as she was always happy to help them.

“She gave us a lot of opportunities to improve our grade and was always very willing to help her students, even when we had a lot of questions,” said Zhou.

After her retirement, Ms. Hong is planning on traveling and spending more time with her parents. However, she said one of the things that she will miss most is being able to learn from her students.

“I feel like young kids have a lot of information. My students are exposed to a lot of new stuff, and so I get exposed to new stuff as well, whether it’s academically, entertainment wise, or in literacy,” said Ms. Hong.

When asked what advice she wanted to leave to students, Ms. Hong had an important message.

“Do what you like! Don’t get influenced by others. Just believe in yourself and do things you like,” she said. “And get sleep!”

Ultimately, Ms. Hong wants students to remember one piece of advice: “Follow your passion and dream the impossible dream!”

Congratulations to Ms. Hong on her retirement, and thank you for all the hard work and dedication you put into teaching!

Photos Courtesy of The Arcadian