How did I get here?

Ten years ago, I was 15 years old. I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have envisioned more than a decade more of education in my future. Graduate studies in mathematics weren’t something I could conceive of. I’m not sure what my 15 year old self would have thought of the research portion of what I do these days, but I’m sure she would have been incredulous at the thought that I could be comfortable teaching labs.

So how did I get from there to here?

To be perfectly honest, I’m not entirely sure.

Although I’m sure I couldn’t have envisioned this path when I was 15, it seems like most of the decisions along the way have been obvious ones. Since the math courses that I took in the first year of undergrad were so amazing, it seemed obvious that I would take an ambitious major requiring a large number of math courses. Once I took such an ambitious program it seemed obvious I would do some summer research terms and that I would apply for grad school. It seemed obvious that I would go to the school where Someone was also accepted. All of these steps were the easiest choice. The most obvious one.

The exception is when I first put my foot on this path, the decision to do mathematics as an undergrad. That option was perhaps the least obvious one.