I first became aware of the Preparing Future Faculty program during the fall semester of the year 1999. This program has allowed me to give talks at other schools, to attend workshops and conferences both at Binghamton and elsewhere, and to learn about the life of a faculty member.
The aspect of the PFF program that I feel was the most meaningful is the series of talks for undergraduates at our partner institutions. Besides learning how to prepare and give a talk to undergraduates about a non-technical mathematical subject, the talks gave me an opportunity to observe other lecture styles besides my own. This allowed me to discover new techniques that I now use both when presenting to my peers and also when teaching.
I joined the PFF program in the fall of 1999 when Professor Luise Charlotte Kappe sent out an announcement about an upcoming seminar. My decision to attend that seminar was the best decision made in my entire graduate career. The next spring I started attending the local MAA meetings, with support from PFF. This allowed me to network with other mathematicians and provided me with the opportunity to learn what mathematicians do. These meetings also allowed me to present methods I have used in my classrooms with a larger audience then the other students and faculty at Binghamton.
Besides the section meetings, the PFF program enabled me to attend the joint meeting of the AMS and the MAA in January 2002. This allowed me to interview schools at the meeting, to observe talks given by my colleagues, and to give a talk about a research topic I am working on. I feel that attending the joint meeting was the culmination of my PFF experience, showing that I had indeed been prepared to enter the world of mathematical scholarship.
I feel that without my participation in the PFF program, I would not have been ready to enter the job market when I received my degree. This program gave me access to the tools and knowledge that tenured professors have with respect to their classrooms. I highly recommend participation in the program for anyone who is either interested, or may be interested in a job in academia.