Office Hours for Spring 2023
Monday - Wednesday 5:20pm - 6:30pm at the Watsonville Center in room WatsA360
Thursday 10:35 - 12:05pm in room 715A.
Before start of semester (during Math PLUS):
Tuesday - Friday 8:00 - 9:00am, Wednesday 3-4:30pm.
Short Bio
Hello, my name is Lenny Leum and I prefer to go by either "Lenny" or "Mr Leum," whichever you want. I am a Mathematics Instructor, and it is my passion to teach math to anyone who wants to learn the subject.
I grew up in southern California and first visited the Watsonville/Santa Cruz area as a teenager. I was impressed by the tall redwood trees and the powerful waves and moved to the area to study at UC Santa Cruz (UCSC). I graduated about 6 years later with a Bachelors degree (B.A.) in Latin American and Latino Studies and Politics. Afterwards, I worked at various temporary teaching jobs in grades K-12 around the area.
One year, after my teaching job ended in June, I put all my stuff in storage and went to hike the John Muir Trail from Mount Whitney to Yosemite. When I returned, I started working as a substitute teacher and taking Math classes at Cabrillo, but I couldn't stop thinking about the month I spent hiking. The following year after sending in a couple applications to Masters program, I decided to throw caution (and the rest of my savings) to the wind and hike the Pacific Crest Trail. It took me about 5 months from April 12th until September 7th to walk over 2653 miles from the border wall separating Mexico / California, all the way into Canada. Along the way, when I was in town, I ate lots of food but I also replied to college application requests.
After reaching Canada, I took the train back and started studying Mathematics at Cal State East Bay. I finished my Masters degree (M.S.) in Mathematics about 3 years later and afterwards was admitted as a PhD student at UCSC. After 3 years taking classes and studying for the qualifying exams, I earned a second Masters degree (M.A.) in Mathematics and failed out of the PhD program. The following year I found this wonderful position teaching at Cabrillo, in 2016! I continue to pursue longtime passions for surfing and long distance hiking/backpacking/thru-hiking, along with my passion for teaching Math at Cabrillo.