What is your personal and educational background?

I was born in New Jersey, but my family moved to Gwinnett County, GA when I was 12 years old. Growing up, I did not particularly like math. I was more interested in science and history. I did not start to learn about the importance of math until I started college. I received my B.S. in mathematics from Spelman College in 2017. Currently, I am a PhD student at the University of Washington in Applied Mathematics being advised by Ka Kit Tung and Mark Kot.

Please describe an experience (or 2) that helped you discover/ cultivate your interest in the mathematical sciences.

During sophomore year in college, I was accepted to the GSTEM program at Spelman that provided funding for students to travel internationally and conduct STEM research. I attended the University of Glasgow and worked on a research problem in applied mathematics. I did not know that mathematics was used to solve real world problems before this program, and it sparked my love for research. Subsequently, I sought every opportunity to pursue research. I worked on projects with Dr. Natarajan Ravi and Dr. Monica Stephens at Spelman. I attended MSRI-UP and worked with Dr. Luis David García Puente and Dr. Ashley K. Wheeler. I am incredibly grateful to my professors at Spelman and mentors at MSRI-UP for encouraging me to pursue the mathematical sciences.

Please share any words of wisdom/inspiration or anything you would like to promote.

The best piece of advice I have ever received is that your self-worth is not measured by your ability to do mathematics. When you are passionate about what you do, it is easy to wrap your whole identity into succeeding in your work. So, when things don’t quite go as planned, you feel like you have lost a piece of yourself. Remember that you are important and valuable regardless of your productivity and ability to do math.