![\"Erwin](\"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2024\/04\/Erwin_2024.jpg\")
\u201cI don\u2019t have a sob story,\u201d she said. \u201cI just have a story about how I\u2019d been out for a long time, and it was intimidating coming back, but I did it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Erwin grew up in western Kansas but has called Stephenville home for the last 11 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI raised my three children here,\u201d she said. \u201cI put down roots. I live five minutes from campus, so it was really my only choice.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With a bachelor\u2019s degree in accounting in her rearview mirror, she took on the task of teaching math to her kids. That\u2019s when she realized her ability to teach others could extend beyond her own family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI home schooled my children all the way up,\u201d she said. \u201cMy friends, who also homeschooled, were not as secure teaching math by the time their kids got to junior high. I ended up teaching a lot of homeschooled kids teaching at some co-ops and for a couple of years at a private school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With that instructional background, she began to consider adding to her educational chops, but she still had her doubts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cComing back to school after raising three kids was pretty intimidating,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen you are out of school for a long time you think, \u2018There\u2019s no way I can do that.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI came back and was encouraged and supported by the Tarleton faculty. When I would freak out and think, \u2018There\u2019s no way I can do this,\u2019 I would always find someone who would talk me down off my ledge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She has settled into life on campus, serving as a risk management officer for the Tarleton Educators for the Advancement of Mathematics (T.E.A.M.) and a member of the Tarleton State Math Club while working as a graduate assistant teaching statistics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI love teaching statistics,\u201d Erwin said. \u201cIt\u2019s a different math language. I love explaining it in different ways so that the students understand it. It\u2019s my favorite thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With newfound confidence, she plans to continue teaching college-level math.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI like the entry level courses,\u201d she said. \u201cI especially like the foundational courses, teaching students who have not had a good math experience. I like to turn them around and show them how much fun math is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her experience at Tarleton State has not gone unnoticed by her children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy kids laugh at me because my friends are the same age as my children,\u201d Erwin said. \u201cYou share a common experience, and it doesn\u2019t matter how old you are.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 Sidne Erwin is a non-traditional student at Tarleton State University. She receives her diploma signifying a master\u2019s degree in curriculum and instruction with a concentration in mathematics …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":50812,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[382,423,425],"tags":[437],"class_list":["post-50810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homepage","category-academics-research","category-campus-community","tag-college-of-education"],"acf":{"image":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"priddle","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/author\/priddle-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2024\/04\/Erwin_2024-300x200.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["_Homepage<\/a>","Academics & Research<\/a>","Campus & Community<\/a>"],"unlinked":["_Homepage<\/span>","Academics & Research<\/span>","Campus & Community<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["College of Education<\/a>"],"unlinked":["College of Education<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 2 years ago","modified":"Updated 2 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on May 8, 2024","modified":"Updated on August 15, 2024"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on May 8, 2024 8:00 am","modified":"Updated on August 15, 2024 5:38 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"Graduate in cap and gown smiling in front of a rock background.","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50810\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}