Hubert Hwang, known as Hwang to their students, entered Milton five years ago during the pandemic. Since then, they have embodied the roles of math teacher, Academy House dorm parent, and Asian Society faculty advisor.
Last year, Hwang made a daunting Advanced Functions Honors class a lot less scary for me. Despite entering the class feeling unsure and wary of math as a subject, I achieved a deep understanding of concepts with Hwang’s patience, puzzles, and unconventional examples. I felt comfortable admitting when I needed help, and I never felt judged for not understanding—a particularly important level of comfort for a class that introduces many critical concepts such as sinusoidal waves for the first time. Furthermore, Hwang’s frequent skills checks and reflection surveys—in which funny math memes would often make an appearance—made regular feedback for both students and Hwang a staple of the class.
Jiayi Wu ’27 particularly enjoyed Hwang’s “Quotes of the Week” column on the class whiteboard, adding that she was honored to have been featured last year. Sophia Roberts ’29 similarly expressed her appreciation for the tradition. “I think it’s a really cool way to capture the things you say in class,” she said. She added, “it’s always a surprise to see your name.” In fact, one time she wrote “I agree” under the quote, only for Hwang to remind her that she had been the one to say the statement. This week’s featured statement was “My TikTok did this too,” from James Lanza ’27. Some other notable quotes from the past few weeks include “I thought the sun disappeared” and “Counting’s, like, hard.”
“What has sustained me the most is getting a chance to work with students in smaller settings, like when they come for extra help or stick around and ask questions or even just in class,” Hwang said. “I really enjoy both the puzzle of figuring out what they are actually asking, and then [figuring out] how [I should] help them without just giving it away.” They described how they wanted to “preserve as much of that ’Oh, that’s how it works. I got it right!’” sense of achievement. “Seeing that is what has really kept me going,” they said.
At Milton, Hwang has enjoyed “the chance to break out a little bit from a very test-centric environment.” As a former teacher at public and charter schools that focused on tests like MCAS, Hwang remarked that “It’s nice to have a little bit more of that freedom and the possibilities to go in a little bit of a different direction to say, ’No, this isn’t on a standardized test, but it is useful and interesting and important in some way.’”
They have taught a variety of math courses in their time here, ranging from Honors Calculus to Proof and Problem Solving. “I feel like I’ve gotten really into the swing of Honors Calculus. I’ve been able to teach it for five years now,” Hwang said. They helped revamp the past curriculum, which followed an unclear structure and introduced integrals before derivatives. “I find [the course] to be a lot of fun to teach even though calculus is a big scary word,” they said.
Hwang has decided to take a break from the classroom and is now looking for clarity on what they would like to do. I sincerely wish Hwang the best in whatever endeavor they choose to pursue. Thank you for being such a thoughtful and considerate teacher—Milton will miss you dearly!