This summer, I was able to explore the intersections of my interests, mathematics and education. For two weeks of the summer, I participated in the Duke SWiM (Summer Workshop in Math for female high-school students) program. As one of the four counselors, I worked with a small group of high school female students interested in math while being surrounded my female professors and staff. I gained so much insight into how environments such as those that this program created foster growth and inclusivity in the field of mathematics for students. We taught them topics in math at or above college level and instilled in them that they are able to do it with hard work! As these were all rising seniors, we also did some workshops for college applications. It was a wonderful experience for both the students and the teaching assistants.

During the rest of my summer, I traveled around the United States and observed the methods being implemented in other Universities regarding the issue of STEM retention in women and underrepresented minorities. I met with leaders of programs similar to SPIRE as well as met with leading researchers in the field of Mathematics Education in order to learn more about the current research surrounding mathematics curriculum. When speaking with a program leaders, I gained an understanding of why and how the program was initially founded, the culture surrounding STEM majors at their university, who their program is most strongly influencing, and about their measures of success of their program. I also did gain some knowledge about specific structure changes in the STEM departments themselves that have taken place as well as initiatives outside of the department that have been implemented. When I spoke with researchers in the field of mathematics education, I was able to begin understanding the specifics of what they are researching and how they came to that place in their research. These conversations also helped me make important decisions regarding future graduate studies.