Mathematichole

Honored to be selected as a 40 under 40 alumni. ESPECIALLY given most of my work is undoing lessons learned from my time as a Black math major at the Institute 🐝⁣
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We got some real heavy hitters in this 2021 cohort. Make sure y’all also see how my good sis is continuing to make her impact 🐝 ⁣
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My full feature is linked in my bio

Ya girl is officially a Ph.D. Candidate in Mathematics EducatIon. This means I’ve completed all of my doctoral coursework and passed both of my preliminary exams sooo now I can start thinking about this dissertation and get up outta grad school in a few more years lol. Lemme tell y’all a little abt the work I’ve been doing:

Back in 2012 I participated in a bridge program at Georgia Tech as an incoming Black freshman. After that I worked w/ the same program and others as an admin, math instructor, math tutor, and counselor. I even created my own in 2016 called “Dreambuilders” for middle schoolers.

So up until now I’ve focused my academic research on analyzing why various STEM bridge programs for incoming freshmen are successful at supporting Black students’ mathematical abilities when entering college.

In my prelim study “Let’s CHAT: Using Contradictions to Analyze Design Features of STEM Bridge Programs”, it was my first attempt at using a framework called Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) to find opportunities to learn from & improve design features within 4 college bridge programs (from my master list of 40+ programs).

My work is nowhere near complete as I’m still in academic training, but it feels good to actually celebrate a milestone. I’m ABD (All But Dissertation).

S/o to the support system. Y’all held a girl down.

went all out! All attendees received BlackGirlMATHgic digital coloring books! I’m a coloring page y’all with 12 other Black female mathematicians!! My heart is beyond full 💜💜💜

Y’all today I attended one of the best parties of my life: The Black Girl MATHgic One Year Anniversary virtual party!⁣
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hasn’t just positively impacted the math confidence of young girls all over, but it has also helped out women like me who can still struggle with her math confidence on a daily basis. ⁣
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My favorite segment of the party was when four young Black girls had the opportunity to interview THE Dr. Gladys West Live! Did you know she was the mathematician behind the GPS system that gets y’all to where ever it is you’re going? I could only shed tears being able to witness three generations of Black female mathematicians dialogue. ⁣
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Thank you Brittany and your team for an amazing time. I can’t wait for the next one. ⁣And a double thank you for letting me do my first SpaceBox pitch!
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Make sure y’all check out BlackGirlMATHgic.com to see their new website. Just beautiful.

Lift off in 3. 2. 1. For the past two months my team and I have been creative af producing our very first escape room in a box: SpaceBox! Here’s a sneak peek 👁:⁣⁣
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“𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘢 𝘚𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 (𝘚𝘐𝘚), 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘚𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘕𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 (𝘈𝘚𝘈𝘕) 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘠𝘖𝘜 — 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴— 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘺. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘺𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘶𝘴’ 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘭𝘭...”⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⁣⁣
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We are raising funds so we can pilot our Beta Box experience by the end of the summer. Do you have what It takes to Help Us Lift Off⁣🚀 ⁣⁣
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Donate at bit.ly/spaceboxliftoff and share around!

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Special shoutout to our lead writer Parker A. Miles, marketing director Zarya, and content creator Olivia!

SpaceBox organized by Michole Washington "When a mysterious virus begins to afflict a team of astronauts led by Commander Malika Swanson on the Sta… Michole Washington needs your support for SpaceBox

Won this book in a raffle. Thanks ! So many of my idols are beautifully showcased within the pages. Like Euphemia Lofton Haynes, the 1st Blk Woman and 9th Blk Person to get a Ph.D. in Mathematics.

In honor and remembrance of we need justice.

Luckily, when I took a linear algebra course last semester I kept a journal within my actual notebook to jot down anything about teaching or learning that I’m noticing while I took the course as a student so that I can reflect on a day like this.
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This memory stuck out to me. I recall on this day the professor making a simple passive remark about how to factor polynomials of degrees greater than 3. What got me was him saying “you SHOULD have learned this in middle or high school”.
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My first thought reading It again now is thinking back to math in high school when the GA state standards kept changing every year. Some students were taking Algebra and Geometry while students like myself were herded into those Math 1 and Math 2 cohorts. I remember being low-key upset b/c I felt the Math 1 & 2 courses were too slow and we had a different math teacher every couple of months. I wanted to switch but no one would let me.
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I say all of this to say that assumptions can be dangerous. I did know how to factor those type of polynomials, but I didn’t raise my hand. I wondered how much that professor knew about inequities in K-12 schools not only in American schools, but around the World! Everyone in our class did not attend the same high school let alone ever live in the same area until now so how can you assume that we all learned the same thing in K-12 at the same ability level, or even at all…
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Sure. There are prerequisites for courses, but having a professor support peer collaboration is more effective than just letting students flail in the wind. After assessing who knows what, you can ask people to exchange emails or if a class has a recitation period have the TA make sure these students share the knowledge then.
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Sure. maybe the professor wasn’t really saying what he said. But he still said It. And we all still heard It. I imagine someone else in that class not as reflective as me, but with a similar backstory hearing It too and thinking “damn. He said I should but I don’t remember how to do this. I’m gonna fail this class for sure”.
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That’s why It matters.

Not underprepared. Not underrepresented. Merely underestimated.

As we’re making large scale transitions to learning via online and homeschool education, I want to make sure we take advantage of this time to also unlearn some things. Things from traditional education that we were unknowingly normalizing. UW Madison Math Education professor, Gloria Ladson-Billings, was the first person to introduce me to the issue with the math achievement gap through her academic writings. I believe this is a prime time y’all to really change the game. Starting with decommissioning language and concepts that don’t empower or liberate. Cause we gotta keep chipping away at systemic barriers and beliefs so we can flourish.

with
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Classy. Bougie. Ratchet.

Successfully defended a Prelim yesterday from the comfort of my bedroom! This. Was. A. Journey. This exam was suppose to begin and end for two weeks in September. However, my overall stress levels and mental health couldn’t handle it. It got really bad y’all. Insomnia. Loss of appetite. Muscle aches. Migraines. It was a stress-induced illness that totally took me out the game. But It was one of my first lessons of taking a pause. A break. Re-learning how to listen to my body. Having to fail at something major and build myself back up. But 6 months later here I am. Finally one step closer to this Ph.D.. (Swipe left to see my first two pages). S/o to and for really helping me see this through! @ Ann Arbor, Michigan