text: Sonia Galerneau - e-Learning | Mott Community College
  Biography Sonia Galerneau
  Sonia Galerneau - Faculty - Mathematics
  My name is Sonia Galerneau. I've been teaching Mathematics for over 45 years. I love teaching, especially mathematics, and I'm very happy to be your teacher this semester.
  I knew that I wanted to be a teacher since I was six years old. When I was in 9th grade, my algebra teacher had a very unusual way of showing me that anyone can enjoy, love, and understand math – I'll share this story with you sometime during the semester. I think that in many ways I'm a geek. In high school I would spend my Study Hall time doing math problems for fun.
  I'm originally from a working-class family in Pittsburgh, Pa.
  My father was a chef and my mom was a stay-at-home mom. My dad was born in Pittsburgh, but he was raised in the Ukraine. y mom was born in Carnegie, Pa. and she was also Ukrainian. I spoke Ukrainian before I spoke English, took Ukrainian dancing, reading, and writing lessons. I can make pysanki, pierogis,a nd holubtchi (stuffed cabbages). I say that my mom was Ukrainian, but actually she was Lemko. Very few people know about the Lemko people and their history.
  I lived in a city neighborhood with dozens of kids, a great playground at our elementary school, and some woods that we would often explore. We could safely walk or ride our bikes to neighboring towns to go to the movies (we had three small-town type theaters to choose from) or to roller-skate indoors.
  I've also lived in Mexico, Connecticut, and Michigan. I have three degrees. I have a B.S. in Elementary Education from Edinboro University in Pennsylvania, a M.A. degree in Mathematics from the University of Connecticut, and a B.S. degree in Computer Science from the University of Michigan-Flint. Wow, that's a lot of education!
  I began my teaching career as a sixth grade Mathematics teacher in Connecticut where I taught for six years. I moved to Michigan and there I became both an Adjunct Instructor in the Mathematics department (20 years) as well as in the Computer Science department (10 years) at U of M-Flint.
  I'm married. My husband and son are both teachers, and my daughter is preparing for a career in the medical field. We have 2½ dogs (we take care of our son's dog while he's at work) and I have a horse. Don't let me talk about my horse because I won't be able to stop! I've wanted a horse since I was a little girl and I realized my dream when I got my first horse at the age of 50. Since then I've had three wonderful horses (two have passed) and I spend much of my free time "horsing" around with my friends.
  I plan on teaching for as long as I can, and I hope I can instill in you the same passion for learning that I have. I plan on making class not only informative but fun as well.