The Math National Honors Society (MNHS) has had an abundance of events lined up for members. from community volunteering events to math competitions. However, both members and students outside the honors society were recently given the opportunity to hear from the Math Club, based at Northeastern University (NEU), in which students could interact with college students passionate about and/or majoring in mathematics-related fields to discuss all things math.
Students who signed up for the session gathered in room Br462 on January 24th. While enjoying slices of pizza, they engaged in an interactive lesson hosted by Math Club members about college math-related topics, from computer science to graph and number theory to theoretical proofs in discrete math. To finish off was a Q&A session about NEU, which included college students sharing useful admission tips and math-related research and co-op opportunities.
Senior Vincent Thai, who intends on pursuing computer engineering or computer science in college, said that “as I've always been interested in computers and all things STEM,” the Math Club members reinforced to him that it is important to “know your math well, and you'll be able to grasp and take in the beauty and logical reasoning behind the math problems they discuss as it'll go a long way for you and your academic career—especially in pursuit of a technical degree.”
Meanwhile, junior Kathleen Yick “personally liked hearing their personal stories while navigating tertiary education,” and that the event provided a “great informational opportunity” to learn more about college and what careers she could pursue.
Ultimately, one of the biggest takeaways for Yick was that “it’s never too late to change majors—that it’s not over, if you fail one test or even a class.”
The event even proved beneficial to attend for students who may not have been fully interested in math but rather in attending Northeastern—some asked general questions about student life at the university, from what the dorms looked like to what food was served at the International Village dining hall.
On a broader note, senior and MNHS co-founder Arnibish Ray added that the Q&A session “provides students with real insights into college life and college majors which can help with the stress of applying to college and transitioning from high school to college” and “creates an opportunity for students to get an authentic talk from college students” and gain more insight from personal experience rather than information from an admission committee.
He especially enjoyed the Q&A session because the speakers were “genuinely very happy and upbeat with their club and college life at NEU, which fostered a “very welcoming and friendly impression on students like me that wanted to go to NEU… honestly, it was making me want to switch my major to math if I got into Northeastern.”
In the process of hosting the event, Ray shared that “I began researching local college clubs and admission speakers online to see what sounded interesting and somewhat aligned with MNHS.” After researching and reaching out to clubs across several universities in the Boston area, he helped decide on NEU since “almost everyone applies there,” and this would likely heighten student interest to attend.
With this events success, he foreshadowed more speaking events that MNHS is working to bring to fruition: one with “NeuAerospace, which is like an aerospace engineering club, and another is Northeastern’s American Institute of Chemical Engineers. These two clubs are bigger at NEU so we are hoping these work out well.”
Ultimately, MNHS ensured that in case students missed this event, there are many more opportunities to come.
