StudentSupport

24
Jul
2024
Edith Opoku Acheampong

Edith Opoku Acheampong

Born the central region of Ghana • Studies Bachelor of Science in Administration with a major in Administration accounting • Lives in Greater Accra region of Ghana • Occupation Student and AIMS Girls in Mathematical Sciences program alumnus

This is how my mathematics journey began. Back in elementary school, I did not  like mathematics. It was a subject I never wanted to learn or have anything to do with. It even got worse in the Junior High School level. My mathematics teacher used to be so boring and this made the subject not so interesting to learn. I graduated with a grade 3 in my final examination at the Junior High School level, Nevertheless, I was good at the rest of the subjects especially science.

Back in elementary school, I did not  like mathematics. It was a subject I never wanted to learn or have anything to do with.

I started enjoying mathematics in the senior High School. This took place when I started to practice mathematics every day. During my senior High School days, I studied general arts having my electives as elective mathematics, economics, government and geography.  Knowing very well my weakness in mathematics from Junior High school, I still chose mathematics as an elective course. Choosing this made me decide to take mathematics seriously. I started to study it. 

Choosing [mathematics] made me decide to take mathematics seriously. I started to study it.

After our mid-semester exams for the first semester in our first year, I had good marks in elective mathematics. I had 34 out of 40. I was so happy. Our madam made the class clapp for me and that really motivated me. It made me realize that I have the potential to become an excellent student of mathematics.

Since then, I have been very good at mathematics and even teach others. I have had scholarships due to mathematics. Mathematics is indeed taking me far. I got admission into the university because I had a good grade in mathematics and I’m offering a mathematics related course.

I therefore encourage young girls that mathematics is not a course which is not beyond their reach. They can do it!

Posted by HMS in Stories
05
Oct
2022
Amanda Minter

Amanda Minter

Born in UK • Studied Mathematics at Lancaster University in Lancaster, UK • Highest Degree PhD in Infectious Disease Modelling • Lives in UK • Occupation Director of Equations of Disease C.I.C.

Growing up, universities were always a bit of a mystery to me, my parents didn’t go to university. But I was encouraged by my parents and schoolteachers that going to university would be the path for me. I thought that going to university and studying would help me change the world for the better. I enjoyed maths from a young age, it was a subject which came naturally to me. I found the lessons easy, but then at university, studying maths, I struggled.

Whether it was the format of lectures or the more abstract topics, the subject I loved didn’t come naturally anymore. I worried that I had reached my limit in my understanding of mathematics. After a few disappointing grades, I knew something would have to change if I was going to get a good degree. I had to do something different – I had to learn differently. 

I knew with enough time I could figure out most things – or know when it was taking me too long and I should ask for help!

I wasn’t used to having to put effort into learning maths, but now I would attend classes, then practice, read several books, find examples online, until I understood the concept. In those years at university, I learnt how to learn. And it paid off, not just at university, but further down the line as well.

I stayed at my university to do an MSc in Statistics. Although I loved group theory, I wanted to work on something more applied.  Following my MSc, I started a PhD in infectious disease modelling. Studying for a PhD was all about learning new things, and now I had learned how to learn. I knew with enough time I could figure out most things – or know when it was taking me too long and I should ask for help!

In universities I had been aware of being a first-generation university goer and of not having been to private school, and also of being White.

After my PhD, I stayed at university to do research applying mathematics to the problems of global health, but I found myself becoming disillusioned with academia. As a postdoctoral researcher I worked on some amazing mathematical problems and with some great scientists modelling infectious diseases. But I found myself reflecting on my place in global health research. In universities I had been aware of being a first-generation university goer and of not having been to private school, and also of being White. But I never really thought about what it meant to be White, British, and working in global health. 

My definition of success has changed a lot from starting at university and wanting to change the world with maths.

I was motivated to work in infectious disease modelling to use maths for good, but in my role as a postdoctoral researcher I felt I was not helping to support the decolonisation of global health. I decided to leave academia to set up the social enterprise I run now. I aim to create accessible training opportunities for learners in the Global South.

My definition of success has changed a lot from starting at university and wanting to change the world with maths. And to the aspiring mathematicians, the struggling ‘not a mathematicians’: know that the path to success is not linear, or even constant, but something which keeps changing the more you learn.

Posted by HMS in Stories
11
May
2022
Evi Papadaki

Evi Papadaki

Born in Crete, Greece • Birth year 1992 • Studied Mathematics at National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in Greece • Highest Degree MSc in Mathematics and Its Applications at University of Crete in Greece • Lives in Norwich, UK • Occupation PhD researcher in Mathematics Education at the University of East Anglia, UK

Either by chance or by choice, I always found maths attractive. My mum is a maths teacher, her sisters, too. So, I was regularly in the middle of casual maths conversations growing up. I was observing my mum teaching sometimes, and I was reading her maths books when I was bored. One of the advantages I had as a child was seeing my mum preparing for her lessons and devoting herself to solving problems, struggling, spending time on them, discussing methods and solutions with her sisters. I never found maths easy, but I knew that dedicating time was part of what made it meaningful, and I was up for it.

I remember when I was about 9 years old, I told my dad that I wanted to become an astrophysicist. He was very excited trying to explain ‘the plan’ to me: I had to finish school and study physics, then I should do a masters and a PhD in Astrophysics. I was shocked by the amount of work that I had to do and that was the moment I decided to become a maths teacher. As naive as it sounds, I thought I was doing well at maths already so I could teach others (!).  Yet here I am, 20 years later and having realised the complexity of the work, doing a PhD trying to understand how a teacher can talk to her students about mathematics.

I felt like I always knew about the Pythagorean Theorem. Before I even knew how to read or write, I could quote it without knowing what that means. I learnt how to use it in secondary school. I learnt what it means in high school and a teacher told us that it has over 300 different proofs.

I started thinking about the possibility of studying for a PhD in Mathematics Education in my final year as an undergraduate. I found it fascinating how all the things I’ve learnt throughout the years connected with each other as a gigantic 3D jigsaw puzzle. For example, I felt like I always knew about the Pythagorean Theorem. Before I even knew how to read or write, I could quote it without knowing what that means. I learnt how to use it in secondary school. I learnt what it means in high school and a teacher told us that it has over 300 different proofs. I learnt a couple of the proofs at university. Finally, I learnt that it can be generalised with other shapes and in more dimensions from a video on YouTube.

For me mathematics was never just a subject in school. It was a process of discovery inside and outside of the classroom and I wanted to study if there was a way to spark the curiosity of my students beyond the boundaries of a curriculum or programme of study.

I met people who thought teaching mathematics is purely applied pedagogy and disregarded my mathematical abilities because of that. I met people that thought I was wasting my potential as a mathematician. […] None of them is true!

When I decided that I wanted to follow a career in Mathematics Education research, I had the full support of my family, my friends and my mentors. Nonetheless, I had to fight a few stereotypes on the way. I met people who thought teaching mathematics is purely applied pedagogy and disregarded my mathematical abilities because of that. I met people that thought I was wasting my potential as a mathematician. I also met people that assumed that I am doing a quantitative study as I must be good in statistics. None of them is true! I am doing a qualitative study of how a teacher can talk to her students about mathematics in ways that are not anticipated in a typical mathematics lesson. For my project, I need to unpack the mathematical meaning of the conversations that take place between teachers and students. So, I challenge what I know about mathematics almost every day and I have learnt a lot more than I ever thought I would. Moreover, I am working at the student services of my University helping students with their maths, so I have the chance to expand my horizons in the variety of applications of mathematics making my interest in teaching and learning mathematics in ways that could aid students in different aspects of their personal and professional life even greater.

Looking back, I am grateful that those comments didn’t bring me down.

Posted by HMS in Stories