1. What is your position at the university? My role as a student of Mathematics is to create an awareness of the application of the subject in the real world. During my second year at university, I was the President of the Maths Society, a Peer Mentor and also a Peer Supporter. Being on the committee involved organising events for the Society, both social and career/subject related as I strongly encouraged first years to apply for Spring Weeks and helped them along the application process.
I was also part of the Student Staff Committee (SSC) and Student Staff Council (SSC) meaning that I played a key part in relaying how the students were finding the delivery of the course etc. I found it really enjoyable to help out younger students with the course content as I myself had struggled with it in first year and then overcame those hurdles.
2. What has inspired your love of the maths community? My interest in Maths stems from its wider applications in science and society, applied Maths being my favourite aspect as it gives you quantitative tools to solve difficult problems. My interest outside the classroom is shown through a presentation I did on AlanTuring and it was fascinating to research the development of “The Bombe” and how Turing managed to crack the Enigma Code with the help of other mathematicians at Bletchley park. His work made such a substantial impact on the world as the length of the war was reduced by up to four years and consequently his work saved millions of lives.
3. What do you most enjoy about your role? I enjoyed building relationships with students and lecturers. Something can be learnt from everybody. Helping first years with their Maths problems lead to the development of my communication skills. Being a member of both SSCs enabled me to learn how people worked together and how decisions were made within the Maths department alongside making real changes in the delivery of the course in line with students’ views.
4. What are the common misconceptions needed to be overcome?
Often, people think that Maths students just stay in their rooms alone and work all day. That is certainly not the case. Maths at Leicester involves a vast amount of group work, especially in certain modules which I would definitely recommend taking for that reason. Group work allows the development of communication skills. I think the most important thing you take from group work is understanding how different people with varying abilities approach tasks. This is a representation of how things are in a workplace. It’s not always easy, but the way that someone handles difficult situations says a lot about them. Being able to talk about how you handle conflicts is definitely a good skill for future interviews.
5. What defines you other than maths? During lockdown, I was unable to meet up with friends and family as expected over the Summer months which led to boredom and frustration as there’s only so much Netflix you can watch!
I have always loved baking and thought it would be worth converting my passion into a business, Ritika Bakes. I started learning about the market, in terms of product popularity and peak times. Data analysis skills are used to see the most interactive posts on my social media pages which enables me to tailor the pages accordingly and increase my following. Ice skating is also one of my passions as it allows me to relax and take time away from my normally quite busy life
6. Any inspirational quotes for you. Behind every successful woman is a tribe of other successful women who have her back.