When I tell people that I am an applied math major, it gets me strange looks. Because, in my existing list of titles — university photographer, print maker, journalist, artist, future architecture grad student — applied mathematician doesn’t really seem to fit.

I’d be lying if I said a small part of me didn’t revel in causing this confusion.

So, why math?

When I first came to UCA, I had many ideas about what I wanted to study, but nothing conclusive. I knew I wanted to be part of work that was creatively stimulating and had some community-driven purpose, but I was too indecisive to pick a single path that I felt would attain this goal of mine. I pondered environmental science, psychology, fine art, journalism, English, and even film.

To narrow these possibilities, my first semester of college was dedicated to exploring my interests. I took film classes, drawing classes, literature classes, and I took calculus I to satisfy my core math requirement.

In my second semester, I continued to try out various classes. I came very close to not taking another math class that semester, but my mom encouraged me to take calculus II since I had done well in calculus I. 

Even after this first year, I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do. How could I possibly choose one thing to study when I wanted to know everything?

That was when I thought more about mathematics. Isn’t math in everything?

While math is often seen as being antithetical to the arts, I began questioning why this was.

Isn’t art just a tool for studying and analyzing the patterns observed in the world around us and isn’t this exactly what math is as well?

I am good at math and I love art, so why couldn’t I be a mathematician who brought art into my work?

So, with this idea in my mind, I became a math major.

I have always been a curious person who has wanted to learn more about the world around me and it is with this passion that I have curated my studies.

I study math because everything can be modeled with numbers. I chose to be in the Schedler Honors College because of its core value of interdisciplinary scholarship. I applied and was hired as the UCA campus photographer because I think observation and being curious about others and empathizing is important. And, I minored in journalism not because I am outgoing and great at interviewing people but because I wanted to hear and learn the stories of others. 

I am a self-proclaimed jack of all trades and perhaps a master of none, but I pride myself on having a diverse skill set and constant desire to learn more. 

So, why do I tell you this in my final issue for The Echo?

Mainly to urge anyone reading this to learn all you can.

College doesn’t have to be about finding your one thing. Moreso, you don’t have to have just one thing.

College is about being exposed to a diversity of ideas and having a diversity of experiences.

You don’t need to know what you want to do for the rest of your life. How could you know? We put so much pressure on finding our thing. But what if we find many things? 

You don’t have to know what you want to do. You just have to want to do things. Be curious about the world around you. Do the things you want to do even when they scare you.