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Today, I am an accomplished Finance Manager in the biotech and technology industries with experience across many areas of finance and business: from budget creation and accounting, to financial forecasting and pitching to investors. I’ve applied my mathematics background to financial planning and analysis by delivering analytical data for decision-making and supporting the short- to long-term strategic initiatives of the company with financial modeling and scenario analysis.
Many of the most valuable experiences I had during my time at Taylor came from time spent immersed in the Taylor community. My involvement on the Taylor Cross Country and Track teams, working for the TU Mathematics Department in a variety of capacities, and group assignments in each of my mathematics major courses were among the most valuable experiences I had. Between running together and studying together, many of the lifetime relationships I formed in college stemmed from the times I bonded with teammates and classmates at Taylor. Being a runner for Taylor Cross Country and Track brought countless memories and lifetime friendships that I have taken with me long after graduation day. I challenged myself to be a well-rounded student-athlete, learning discipline and balance, and making great memories with my team and coach. When I wasn’t training or racing, I could often be found studying with friends. I love that the professors in the math department pushed us to do group assignments and take-home assessments with other math majors because it challenged me to find my strength as a team member, not just as an individual. It always amazed me how the level of difficulty of the assignments increased significantly for group work, yet we were always able to manage the assignments and excel as a team to accomplish what would not have been achievable for one individual. My involvement as a teacher assistant and tutor for the Mathematics Department was another valuable experience that brings memories of nights spent in Euler, building relationships, and seeing mathematics through the eyes of non-math majors. Between tutoring, math study tables, grading for math professors, and my own workload, I found myself spending many evenings/nights/very late nights in Euler. At the start, working with other math majors in Euler was necessary for completing group assignments, but very quickly it became a trend to work in Euler by choice. I remember feeling like Euler was my second home on campus. Taylor University is so special because I can’t look back on my time as an athlete and student without remembering how faith was woven into everything. As a team we had prayer groups, worship nights, chapel services, and even our pre-race huddle included a worship song. I look back on these memories and think about all I was able to accomplish and overcome when I leaned into my faith.
One of the first things I learned about being a math major at Taylor is that I was automatically enrolled in the Math Club as well. The math sanctioned events put on by the club were a great way to get to know the professors and other math majors outside of the classroom. It was also through the math sanctioned events that I learned from different panel speakers about the gap between men and women in STEM, what imposter syndrome is, what it’s like to pursue a graduate degree in mathematics, and the possibilities for research and discovery in mathematics.
An education from Taylor University prepares students to take a broad view with a curriculum that pushes everyone to be a successful student outside of their own area of study. In financial management to support biotech or technology businesses, I have learned the importance of taking a helicopter view of the business to understand how the daily operations support the long-term initiatives. Being a successful business partner involves a lot of communication, cross-functional collaboration, and studying outside of my own area of expertise. I am grateful that Taylor provided me with a broad range of experiences in the classroom, abroad, and in the community to prepare me to look at a business from multiple vantage points. When it comes to the core math classes I took, I may not remember every definition, theorem, or equation, but I learned not to give up on a problem until I found a solution, and I am reminded of this nearly every day in my work. I learned how to come at a question from different angles, how to research the background to a problem I didn’t understand, and how to utilize the people around me as a resource. In my discipline, sometimes answers are in black and white, like a balanced equation, but other times, all I can do is follow the data to find the most optimal solution. Studying mathematics at Taylor has been an asset in my career, time after time.
When I was studying at Taylor, I had an idea of what I thought the next 5-10 years would hold. However, I quickly found that I should hold loosely to plans I made for myself and let God set the direction. Majoring in mathematics provides a solid foundation and can lead a person down many different career paths, so keeping an open mind about career choice is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s okay to not have everything figured out ahead of time. I would encourage students to try to embrace a lot of different classes and experiences that represent what is meaningful to them (for example, I took Mathematics of Finance as an elective course because I had a feeling early on that I might like to explore a career in that field). One other piece of advice I have is to try to find your balance as a student and member of the Taylor community. While studying and excelling as a student are important, when you look back you won’t regret setting the books aside to embrace the events, experiences, and pick-a-dates that will make your time at Taylor so special.
