Personal Statement: Why Mathematics Is A Purpose For Mathematics

As a child, I always romanticized with the idea of being able to create or find something new. This ambition quickly lent itself to science since the possibilities of new discoveries. At this time, mathematics was never an important element in my life and was just something that made sense, however, my view on math changed. Over time, I came to appreciate all that math has to offer. I first realized that I loved math was in geometry class due to my introduction to proofs. For me, these proofs became ways to create and discover new information. Furthermore, I quickly developed an affinity toward them and wished to do even more. From this point my passion for math was sparked.

My passion for mathematics was fixed at the age of ten, on the morning that my mathematics teacher told I would be sitting the Junior Maths Challenge, 'as practice for when you are older'. As I nervously started to answer the questions, a whole world began to open before me. I revelled in the problem solving, answering questions of a nature I had not seen before. My teachers were delighted when I emerged from the exam hungry for more. Since then I have consistently demonstrated my aptitude, achieving gold awards through to senior level, and scoring highly in the European Kangaroo.

I am determined to pursue a degree on mathematics, specifically, discrete mathematics. For discrete math and combinatorics and a range of allied fields, Rutgers is one of a small number of best institutions in the world (not just the U.S.).  Since that is my main interest at this time, why do I want to transfer away from such a world center of discrete math?

As those who love physics or chemistry, or biology, are most likely to understand difficult and complex concepts and be successful in their respective subjects, I became more successful at understanding mathematical concepts as my junior year progressed and as my senior year began. Calculus became an infinitely easier subject and one that I could comprehend with relative ease, even easier than traditionally “easy” subjects for me such as history or language arts. I learned that I could fly through problem sets and enjoy it, and for the first time in my school life, I was the one answering my peers’ questions instead of being the designated clueless classmate. Learning to love something that is so essential to life made me enjoy myself and my life more than I had previously, and I no longer felt the self-doubt of not being “gifted” in mathematics in a group of mathematically “gifted” students. I feel markedly more confident in my mathematical abilities, both presently and in the future as a student majoring in

The benefits and opportunities to embrace engineering far outweigh the difficulties in the process, but despite this, my pure love for mathematics has been the major contributor to my ambitions. From a young age, I found math incredibly enjoyable. The order and consistency found through something as simple as the order of operations served as a driving force to my curiosity and dedication to the subject. As the mathematical concepts intensified, I was able to adequately keep up and enjoy the journey along the way. While signing up for my senior year classes, the decision to take calculus was made easily. While speaking with the instructor, Yvonne Sebastian, I discovered that her love for math was derived from similar feelings. In an interview with Sebastian, she stated, “Math is a beautiful thing. Numbers are incredibly simple, but they can be used to calculate very complex scenarios. No matter how difficult a problem may seem, there is always a solution, an answer that can be found and understood through the power of math” (Y. Sebastian, personal communication, February 14, 2017). Interacting with a teacher who understood to a great level of degree my similar feelings regarding math has been an incredible motivator in my desire to pursue a career which incorporates mathematics frequently. For any individual to be happy with their occupation, I would argue that they must experience a desire to progress

Geometry and Algebra are so crucial to the development of the world it is taught to every public high school in the United States, around 14.8 million teenagers each year (National Center for Education Statistics). Mathematics is the engine powering our world; our stocks, economy, technology, and science are all based off from math. Math is our universal and definite language “I was especially delighted with the mathematics, on account of the certitude and evidence of their reasonings.” (Rene Descartes, 1637).

There are an abundant amount of subjects that peak my interests, but mathematics will always be the one subject that intellectually excites me. At times, it is able to both challenge me to the point of frustration, but it later gives me excessive excitement and happiness for overcoming the challenge. Similarly, it is like a wave flooding in shore because it is at first harsh and difficult, but it gradually smoothes and simplifies. It is a subject that I can fully interact and manipulate it to the best possible way of understanding it, which I fondly love because I learn better hands-on. However, it was truly benevolent instructors, who increased my love in math and enlighten a new way of

Studying Maths has extremely engaged me as it gives me an insight to mathematical theories. Maths uses its own language of numbers, formulas and rules to communicate across ideas through mathematical models. Moreover, Maths has enabled me to understand the mathematics that reinforce many aspects of our lives. It has assisted me to apply a range of Maths skills to real world situations and have the ability to interpret and analyse information. These are the skills that I have developed which I hope to express in my undergraduate degree.

but I still didn’t consider it one of my favorite subjects or even realize how interested in the courses that I was. When I got into high school I began to see that I really enjoyed my mathematics courses. The material interested me and I enjoyed the solving

I have always been interested and achieved at math. I push myself to experience all types of math like calculus and statistics

     From the period of 1145AD – the late 16th century, many mathematicians developed on algebraic concepts. However, it was not until the 1680’s that the most remarkable discoveries were made using algebra. Sir Isaac Newton was a very famous mathematician, English physicist, astronomer, philosopher, and alchemist. During his period of study, he used algebra to describe universal gravitation, develop the laws of motion, found orbits of the planets to be elliptical, discovered that light was made of particles, discovered the rate of cooling objects, and the binomial theorem. His most important works were the development of calculus. However, Newton did not work alone on creating the

Mathematics – The subject captured my interest since I was a kid. The conceptual understanding and the logical application to the problems was a workout to my brain, which had glued me to the subject. My fascination for the subject made me participate in “Ramanujan Talent Test” in which I secured

Since my school days, I have been interested in Mathematics because the challenge of thinking and the process of logic always attracted me to Mathematical problems. With my

My interest towards mathematics made me to take Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry as the main subjects during my intermediate (10+2). After obtaining 94% marks in Intermediate and securing a top 6% rank in engineering entrance test, I opted for Computer Science Engineering in JNTU College of Engineering. Immediately after my Bachelor’s degree, I secured the job in Wipro Technologies and this offered me numerous opportunities to learn about the technical aspects of Software industry.

Mathematics has contributed to the alteration of technology over many years. The most noticeable mathematical technology is the evolution of the abacus to the many variations of the calculator. Some people argue that the changes in technology have been for the better while others argue they have been for the worse. While this paper does not address specifically technology, this paper rather addresses influential persons in philosophy to the field of mathematics. In order to understand the impact of mathematics, this paper will delve into the three philosophers of the past who have contributed to this academic. In this paper, I will cover the views of three philosophers of mathematics encompassing their