PLF Spotlight: Marshall Brandenburg
April 7, 2015 -
STEM Gateway is so proud of the Peer Learning Facilitator program but it would be nothing without our awesome PLFs. These student employees are some of the most passionate, hard working, and skilled on campus. We are so excited to brag about them every month in our newly created PLF Spotlight. April’s segment is devoted to the brilliant Marshall Brandenburg!
Marshall has been with the PLF program since 2013 and has served in Math 116 Topics in Pre-Calculus, Math 121 College Algebra, Math 162 Calculus I, and Math 180 Elements of Calculus courses. Needless to say, Marshall is obviously a math gateway course wiz!
PLFs support student learning in their assigned STEM courses, which typically include helping with in-class work, grading low-stakes assignments, proctoring exams, and holding office hours. As evidenced in classroom observations, Marshall’s strengths as a PLF include patience, professionalism, and compassion. It is clear to anyone who watches Marshall work with students that he truly cares and makes their success a priority. However, Marshall’s self-proclaimed greatest memory on the job comes from his work in office hours. He tutored a struggling student who ultimately received a 100% on a calculus test. This is no easy feat for a student, and Marshall considers this to be a significant accomplishment for both the student and in his position as a PLF.
Although Marshall personally contributes a great deal to the PLF program, it has developed through the interactions with professional role models he has met through STEM Gateway. UNM Mathematics faculty member, Derek Martinez, inspires him with his noticeable passion for the subject mater. Marshall similarly admires former PLF Program Specialist, Mary Cianflone, for her devotion to the success of students in STEM fields and compassion as a leader.
Aside from being an awesome student employee, Marshall is also a STEM student himself. Majoring in Applied Mathematics, he hopes to go on to graduate school in the field and one day accomplish his personal goals of being published and working at one of New Mexico’s National Labs. He is well on his way to accomplishing great things. Marshall has already toured and watched a presentation from the Center for Non-Linear Studies at Los Alamos National Labs. He was also accepted to the Mentoring through Critical Transition Points (MCTP) Mathematics Summer Camp 2015 at UNM.
