Overcoming Your Fear of Math with Senior Lecturer Dr Filip-Beil

Did you enter your school math class each day with trepidation? Were you overtaken with anxiety when examination time came around? Perhaps you went out of your way to avoid taking additional math courses at all costs.

No one understands these feelings better than NEC senior lecturer Dr Anne-Marie Filip-Beil. She understands that math can create anxiety and has made a dynamic career following her calling to teach and share her love of math with others. “I find it rewarding to help my students see the world around them more clearly and be less overwhelmed and frustrated by math,” she comments. My goal is to show them that mathematics has to do with finding patterns, connections, structures and rules that govern what we see; it is something that helps your brain understand the language of nature”. Her secret? “You cannot teach math the same way they taught it 20 years ago,” she advises. “Times are changing, technology is developing, and you must adapt to these changes as a teacher.”

Born in Romania, Dr Filip-Beil has lived and taught in more than four countries throughout her career. She studied applied mathematics and fluid dynamics in her home country before moving to the United States to pursue her doctoral studies in applied mathematics. After receiving her PhD from Duke University, she moved on to Canada where she taught at a variety of universities, including Lakehead University and Ryerson University. Her subjects have varied from applied mathematics, calculus and linear algebra, to physics and applied statistics. Having always envisioned a career in research and academia she considers that teaching is the most “human” profession and that is what it makes it so special and extremely rewarding for her.

After a small sabbatical upon arriving in Germany and taking courses on insurance mathematics at Ulm University, Dr Filip-Beil says she missed teaching too much and took a job at a training center, helping prepare students for examinations such as the SAT, GMAT and CFA. Eventually she got a job at a university in Munich, teaching microeconomics, business and financial mathematics, statistics, computer analysis, and quantitative methods, which eventually led to her joining New European College during its foundation in 2015.

Dr. Filip-Beil says that she enjoys teaching at New European College for many reasons. The small class size allows her to get to know the name of every student she teaches. She also sees how the international community (more than 43 nationalities) helps students build bridges between a wide variety of cultures and backgrounds. “The students are not invisible at New European College,” she explains. “They receive personalized attention from the professors. As a student, you have a sense of community. You have the chance to bond with your classmates and faculty members.” She further explains that the coursework is practical, focusing on leadership and employability and using relevant case studies for application. “At New European College, students create their futures,” she says. “The programs focus on integrity, leadership, working harmoniously in groups and learning from one another.”

Dr Filip-Beil’s advice to prospective students is simple: “Be curious; be ready to learn; be open to changing your perspective. Be flexible; be formless and allow yourself to adapt to the new concepts you learn. Challenge yourself, create your environment and get comfortable in the place of the unknown”.

If you are interested in experiencing Dr Filip-Beil’s instruction first-hand, be sure to contact us for an opportunity to sit in on one of her classes. Those preparing for the GMAT examination can also sign up for her upcoming GMAT Quantitative Preparation Course. New European College thanks Dr. Anne-Marie Filip-Beil for taking the time to sit with us and share her love of math teaching.