Pursuing a dream:
Mathematics professor thankful for opportunity to teach

As everyone else was eagerly anticipating the start of Christmas break in 1997, Jenny (Buist) Robles had a lot more than visions of sugar plums dancing in her head; she was mulling a very important decision whether to apply to graduate school. And, the deadline was imminent.

Jenny had earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics at Huntington in 1996, married fellow grad Rich Robles ('94), and taken a job as a computer programmer. However, Jenny wanted a job that provided more interaction with people — teaching, perhaps.

While the season during which we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ is a time for many things, it isn't a great time to secure letters of recommendation, which are just what Jenny needed when she finally decided to apply to Michigan State.

Nonetheless, she contacted her math mentors, Drs. Francis Jones and Win Wetherbee, and Huntington President G. Blair Dowden on the eve of Christmas break and asked them if they would write the letters.

"I knew it was a busy time for them, and I asked them if they could rush to help me meet the deadline," Jenny said. "All of them came through and made it possible for me to go to graduate school. I still think back on it and consider myself so privileged to know my professors and college president so well that I could ask such a large favor and have them be so eager to help out. Not only that, I consider them good friends and people who still support and encourage me to this day."

But Jenny wasn't really all that surprised by the eleventh-hour assistance for someone who was gone but hardly forgotten. Huntington is all about friends, family, faith, and, of course, gaining a first-rate education.

"Huntington was everything I was hoping for in a college," Jenny said. "I thought the classes were challenging but manageable. I learned something in every class I took. I'm especially grateful for the liberal-arts requirements, because I've found that even though you may know what major you want to study, your job doesn't always fall neatly into one category. You need a wide range of skills and knowledge.

"The math faculty, of course, is great," Jenny said. "The professors are extremely knowledgeable in their subject area, but they manage to teach at a level students can understand. They also introduced the latest software into our studies, which has become essential as you move into higher math."

Cross country and track were just two of the many extracurricular activities Jenny enjoyed at Huntington. "I was very involved in activities outside the classroom, and that's something I would definitely recommend to any student," she said. "Huntington has provided me with some of my best friends to this day, including my husband, Rich. I think college is a time when you're figuring out who you are, and having great supportive friends is such a blessing. We still stay in touch with many of the friends we made at Huntington, and each year we vacation with a great group of Huntington grads.

"Spiritually, Huntington helped me in my Christian walk by providing me with a great growing and learning environment," Jenny adds. "For me, college was the time when I had to decide if my faith was just my parents' — or really my own. I'm glad I was in a safe, Christian environment, so that I didn't get pulled away into other things. It provided me with a great foundation, so that when I did enter the real world, I could make a stand for what I believed. God still has many things to teach me, but I'm glad for the great examples and role models I saw at Huntington."

Armed with her Huntington math degree, Jenny excelled in grad school and immediately landed a job as a training specialist with a Chicago software company. After completing her master's, she became a math instructor at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills, a Chicago suburb.

"I love teaching," Jenny said. "I went to grad school to have the opportunity to teach math, so this job is a real answer to prayer. The professors at Huntington, Dr. Jones in particular, really encouraged me to pursue a graduate degree. I tend to doubt myself, and he really pushed me to go for it. He believed in me, even when I didn't."