The famous Mrs. Monczka allowed me to interview her this week for the Omega. Mrs. Monczka is a renowned electrical engineer who decided to pursue a career in teaching. She has been here at OP for seven years now and has earned a well-deserved reputation as one of our best math teachers.
In my interview with Mrs. Monczka, I had the unique opportunity to ask some hard-hitting questions that would rack the average brain, but not Mrs. Monczka. I inquired about her upbringing, her thoughts on AI and advancing technology, her teaching methods, how she sets herself apart from the “average” teacher, her experiences at OP, and much more!
First, I asked Mrs. Monczka how she grew up. She explained that she grew up in Linden, New Jersey. She then went on to talk about how her father was tough and grew up in hard times. Mrs. Monczka explained that her parents thought school was very important saying, “If you want to have greater financial success… then you need to go to school and study.” Mrs. Monczka said she used this motivation to get through college taking challenging classes, such as Calculus one, two, three, and four. She then went on to receive a Master’s Degree as well.
I then moved on to Mrs. Monczka’s teaching career. I asked her about the different techniques that she utilizes to stand out from the “average” math teacher and what she expects in her class from her students. Mrs. Monczka described her teaching style as “blunt and to the point.” She explained that her teaching style is so blunt because in math you only need to know what is necessary to complete a problem. Mrs. Monczka also believes in focusing on critical thinking skills that can be applied to real-life scenarios. Then she described her students and how she thinks that students are getting smarter and smarter each year. That led me to my follow-up question— do you think students will keep evolving infinitely or hit a wall in the future? To which she replied, “No, I think the [standard] will keep getting higher.” She later used Star Trek as an example of how much potential humans still have and how much more we can still evolve.
Moving on from her teaching style, I asked her a few questions about her fellow faculty members. Mrs. Monczka said that she greatly admires Mr. Layton. She noted his expertise and how he is “always there when you need him and does [his job] with a smile.”
On the topic of admiration, I then questioned Mrs. Monczka if she had any favorite experiences with students that changed her life or taught her a lesson as a teacher. She said, “The biggest thing you learn is never make assumptions about somebody,” recalling her favorite book Pride and Prejudice, in which one of the main themes is about making assumptions about people based on appearance. It also led to my follow-up question – do you have a favorite memory outside of the classroom? Mrs. Monczka was very happy to say that her favorite memory was when her children were little and in preschool.
I ended the interview with some light questions to wrap things up. I asked Mrs. Monczka’s opinion on aliens and if there were any in our universe. To my surprise, Mrs. Monczka had a very specific answer. She believes that there are aliens but not in our universe and definitely not smart enough to find us. So, in conclusion, they are out there just not anywhere near us.
Finally, I asked Mrs. Monczka if she were trapped on a deserted island and could only bring three things, what would they be? After a few seconds of thought, Mrs. Monczka said, “I would bring a book, sunscreen, and a fishing pole sounds good.” When asked what book she might bring in particular, Mrs. Monczka replied, “Definitely Pride and Prejudice.”
During Mrs. Monczka’s successful career and her seven years here at Oratory, she has made a lasting impression on every student she has taught. Mrs. Monczka brings pleasant sarcasm to the classroom with a blunt teaching style to make sure students can have fun and learn at the same time. If your favorite book is Pride and Prejudice and you love calculus, you’ll have a great time learning with Mrs. Monczka.