We are honored this year to have three very different guests. They have come to love math and use it in their lives by very different paths. In alphabetical order:
Eric Costello is a web designer who has had a noteworthy career in both web businesses and gaming. He was one of the creators of the massively multi-player online (MMO) game called Game Neverending. Mr. Costello was also a Co-founder of the photosharing website Flickr, which was an outgrowth of Game Neverending. More recently, he was involved with another MMO game called Glitch. He is involved now with online collaboration tools "to make people's working lives simpler, more pleasant and more productive".
Mr. Costello is the father of Esther (Grade 5), Hope (Mountains), and alumni Phoebe and Jude. He grew up in New York, Florida and Virginia. He has a degree in English Literature from The University of Georgia. He has acknowledged a particular fondness for the Golden Ratio. We hope he will tell us more.
Arbora Shkurti came to the United States from her native Albania for her Junior year of high school. She never left! She stayed to complete high school in Ohio, then attended Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. She graduated in May, 2013 with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. She is living in Hoboken with her husband, and is considering how she will put her engineering skills to use in the workplace.
She is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Society of Women Engineers. She has interned with Alcon Laboratories, a global medical company specializing in eye care, and with Corning Cable Systems, a major supplier to the fiber optic industry.
The third panelist is our very own Sebastian Yemonja-Olukun. We were delighted when Ms. Olukun said "yes" to the invitation to join this year's math panel. While she has worked at Mustard Seed School almost 9 years, and while she is well known to the students, most do not know what she does. Nor do they know how her position demands intensive mathematics. On I Love Math Day they will find out. Ms. Olukun is Mustard Seed's Business Administrator and Registrar. She is thoroughly involved with the accounting system of the school, and is responsible for all purchasing and accounts payable activities.
Ms Olukun is the mother of eighth grader Jabari. She grew up in Jersey City where she attended The High School of Visual and Performing Arts. She graduated from Rutgers University with a B.A. in Communications. She worked at Morgan Stanley for 13 years before coming to MSS. Since arriving here, she has earned her Masters (with honors) in Entertainment Business from Full Sail University in Tampa, Florida.
Mustard Seed's students are looking forward to Friday when they can meet our guests, share what they have been learning, and ask questions to help them imagine how adults use and enjoy math.
