1. What is your position at the university?
Last year at the University of Leicester I was the Lead Student Support and Lead Mentor for the mathematics department. Some of my responsibilities included planning induction week, delivering a successful ‘Meet Your Mentor Event’ and to hold regular meetings. I was given the opportunity to broaden my horizons when I delivered these sessions to approximately 100 students. I believe it is vital to try new experiences and develop yourself. This was a tremendously rewarding experience which developed my network and provided me with a more conscious gratitude to seize opportunities.
2. What do you most enjoy about your role?
These leadership roles have provided me with a range of different opportunities during my Undergraduate degree, which has significantly led to the contribution of both my personal and professional character. I enjoyed meeting new people, collaborating with students across the different years and most of all gathering feedback and finding ways to continuously improve activities run in the department.
3. Why did you choose to study maths?
A degree in mathematics is highly stimulating, intellectually demanding, and required me to develop resilience when solving various problems throughout the three years. This is a dynamic subject where you are required to draw upon many skills like problem solving, critical thinking and communication skills. Maths has so many topics to offer like algebra, number theory, geometry, operational research, and statistics. You can shape this subject around what best fits you, so whether or prefer pure maths or applied.
4. What are the common misconceptions about mathematics that are needed to be overcome?
When people hear the word mathematics it is usually followed by ‘boring’ or ‘for nerds’. However, that is not the case, if you are inquisitive and enjoy tackling problems then this subject is perfect for you! Mathematics is a diverse subject that helps you develop many transferable skills for example communicating technical skills to an audience or looking at problems from different perspectives. These skills enable you to have a vast array of career choices like finance, teaching, engineering, investment banking or even technology.
5. What defines you other than maths?
Although I study mathematics, I am a creative individual who enjoys painting and has an interest in interior designing. During my summer holidays I like to work on projects across different mediums, being inspired by my trip to Morocco I have focused my artwork on ceramics.