A shot of Pedernales Falls on July 4, 2004.
Academic Past
I began college in South Bend, Indiana at Saint Mary's College as a political science major, because what better way was there to save the world then to rule it? It was soon after an episode of me crying in my calculus professor's office because "I just can't get it," that Dr. Mary Connolly asked me if I had thought of being a math major. She is a phenomenal women, so I didn't want to laugh in her face, but I kindly excused myself without giving much of an answer. I thought about it for a few days, and decided that the only way I was going to get good at math was to major in it (and by a domino effect, to spend the rest of my life thinking about it). I really don't remember why I desired to be good at math, other than that I currently wasn't.
I still was sure I needed to help save the world somehow, and had planned on becoming a Peace Corp volunteer upon graduation, because that seemed like a good starting point. To prepare, I did Semester Around the World - a study abroad program with the focus on India. I took a Calc II book with me on the trip, because that was the course I was missing while abroad, and I was determined to not be behind when I got back. I don't know what happened to that book...I think I may have left it somewhere in China.
I was very disoriented when I returned from my semester abroad. I no longer knew what I wanted to do in the long run, so nothing I was doing in the short run seemed worthwhile. I needed something to get me focused again, somewhere to funnel all of my energies. So the logical decision was to transfer to the University of Tennessee at Martin so I could work with Coach John Luthi to become a better bull rider. I also happened to do some mathematics while I was in Tennessee with an incredible math department who pushed me to do more and seek out opportunities. I did, and besides just course work, I was able to do the following:
- Teaching Assistant at Rice Univeristy for Differential Equations (Fall 2003), Calculus III (Spring 2004, Spring 2005), Combinatorics (Fall 2004), Number Theory (Fall 2005).
- Researcher, Graduate Mathematics Program, National Security Agency, Fort Meade, Maryland. May – August, 2005.
- Park City Mathematics Institute summer seminar in partial differential equations under Leslie Ward (Harvey Mudd) and organized by Roger Howe (Yale). Summer 2003.
- Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education (EDGE), held at Pomona College, organized by Amy Radunskaya. Summer 2003. (See Women in Math.)
- Presented a paper at the Nebraska Undergraduate Conference for Women in Mathematics. February 2003. (See Women in Math.)
- Institute for Advanced Studies Mentoring Program for Women in Math summer program An introduction to Fourier Analysis and Wavelets, with some applications, taught by Dr. Ingrid Daubechies (Princeton), organized by Dr. Karen Uhlenbeck (UT-Austin). Summer 2002. (See Women in Math.)
- Researcher at Florida State University in Experimental Physics (under Dr. David Van Winkle), through the NSF Research Experience for Undergradustes Program. The FSU REU was coordinated by Dr. Susan Blessing. Summer 2002.
- Attended the Southwestern MAA Conferences, and presented both a paper and a poster presentation on my REU experience. (2001-2003).
- Math Tutoring Lab at the University of Tennessee at Martin (2001-2003)
- Tutored about 20 hours/week while at Martin, covering all subjects that were taught
- Module Instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin (2001-2003)
- Taught the self-paced courses for four semesters (College Algebra and Business Calculus)