25 years and counting with Mohammed Abella

Professor Mohammed Abella teaches a class about sets of numbers. Courtney Prielipp | The Washtenaw Voice

Alice McGuire

Deputy Editor

For 25 years, Mohammed Abella has shared his passion for mathematics with the campus community while doing what he loves: teaching.

“When I was a child, I used to play teacher with my siblings and cousins. And, when I went to college, I initially was on an engineering path. I got my PhD in physics, and then I started teaching at the same college where I graduated, University of Miami, for a couple of years before coming to WCC,” said Abella, who went on to explain that reviewing content with his classmates helped him realize that he should “just do it [teach].”

Abella went on to state that, for him, the biggest highlight of teaching is when he gets to meet former students, saying, “It makes me happy when they use it [math] or when they tell me that they use it because a lot of times people are under the impression that math is not used anywhere. It’s incorrect. Math is used everywhere.”

Among his students, Abella is perhaps best known for his ability to express complex concepts in understandable terms as well as his penchant for incorporating examples of real world applications alongside the occasional life lesson–with students welcome to share their own relevant experiences.

“The environment in his class is so comfortable, you don’t feel pressured,” said Barira Arshad, a WCC alumni who took three classes with Abella before going on to major in Advertising Management at Michigan State University.

“For every decision, you use math,” said Arshad, who explained that, while she did not understand the importance of it when she was younger, math is now her favorite subject as well as a skill that she finds herself using every day.

Having been referred to Abella by her son, Arshad continued the family tradition by recommending him to her nephew, Mohid Faraz, a computer science major.

Professor Mohammed Abella often uses modern analogy in his lessons to help his students understand the concepts of math. Courtney Prielipp | The Washtenaw Voice

While Faraz has always enjoyed math, he has not always enjoyed math classes.

“I never really understood anything in class. I always had to go home and watch stuff online to figure it out,” Faraz said.

Faraz is a transfer student who took calculus one with Abella after being unable to transfer the credits from his previous institution.

“It felt like I was learning calculus all over again. I was like, ‘This is so different, the way he teaches, he actually teaches you the concept.’ Everything makes sense with him.”

When asked how Professor Abella had most impacted him, Faraz said, “I’ve started enjoying studying.”

Abella’s secret has come to light as he explains, “I try to put myself in the students’ shoes,” noting that he finds it best to use accessible language when introducing students to new concepts.

For students who feel math is an insurmountable hurdle in their educational goals, Abella says, “Math is not impossible. Did anybody do it ever–whatever math you are trying to do? Has anybody started this and completed it? The answer is yes, so why not you?”