Hi, I am Kristina, a trained teacher and mathematician who loves to help others understand Mathematics. I am married to the best man and we have three wonderful children. My academic education comprises a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, A Master of Science in Mathematics Education, and (another) Master of Science in Applied Mathematics. In addition, I have many years of research experience.

I was born and raised in the beautiful Albania. There, in 2012, I got my bachelor’s degree. In 2014, I got my first master’s in Kristiansand, Norway. In 2017, I got my second master’s in Mittweida, Germany. Then I worked in research for a few years. To this day, I still live and work in Germany, in the awesome city of Düsseldorf. I am truly the epitome of someone who achieved and exceeded her dreams. I was the first in my family to attend high school. And that, was after my parents contended for a while about whether I should go to high school. They registered and then de-registered me. After I missed a week of school they registered me again. I don’t blame them, such were the circumstances at that time. At the beginning of high school, I struggled with Math. I remember looking at some students in the class and thinking: I wish I could just understand it like them. Effortlessly. I thought that the reason I was struggling was that I was lacking the so-called natural talent. That false belief made me anxious and therefore I could not concentrate properly. Deeply, I truly believed that I was lacking a natural talent. In my world, that implied that no matter how much I tried there was only so much I could achieve.  However, my optimistic side didn’t give up. Not excelling wasn’t an option. I had to conquer Math. I kept perfecting my study techniques and did everything in my power to finally understand it. Then one day in the second semester of grade 9 the miracle happened. Yes, for me it was a miracle. I was able to prove completely on my own and without mistakes the Midpoint Theorem. It was the last and most difficult question of a routine exam. We used to do rigorous mathematical proofs in grade 9. Crazy, I know. That landed me an A+ grade. Ever since I never stopped getting top grades and most importantly my attitude towards Math changed. Understanding became easy and enjoyable. Guess what, my IQ or natural talent didn’t change. After I finally saw that I could understand Math easily, my anxiety subsided and my confidence improved. I was able to concentrate, learn, and enjoy the process.

To this day, I don’t know what my IQ is. To be honest, I don’t even care.  Nor should you. After all, IQ lies on shaky moral and mathematical grounds. It has done more harm than good. It is good at detecting unintelligence, not intelligence.

The rest is history, I went on to get three mathematical degrees across three different countries. All while getting top grades and without sacrificing all my afternoons. If someone had told me this at the beginning of grade 9, I would have thought they were crazy.

I know that there are many students out there who are struggling just like I was. They might believe, just like I did, that they are struggling because they lack natural talent. Therefore they don’t give it 100% and as a result, their belief becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. They keep struggling.

Now I love helping others break out of that cycle. Seeing struggling students achieve understanding and improve their confidence is priceless to me. Let me say this again and louder. Your math skills are not determined by your IQ or natural talent