From a young age, Lark had a passion for mathematics. But it took an enthusiastic high-school calculus teacher to convince her to pursue it as a career path.

“It wasn’t really until the age of sixteen that I began to consider it as an actual career, rather than a useful subject that would help in a career.”

Her interest in the subject has only broadened during her time at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington.

“I started my degree thinking I would mostly focus on pure mathematics. But in my first year I got exposed to several subtopics and ended up spending the rest of my degree trying to gain experience in as wide a range of math courses as possible.”

Lark says the University has opened her eyes to what is possible in the field of mathematics.

“The University has exceeded my expectations. The professors are knowledgeable and most importantly, they are excellent teachers. I think in maths, the teaching can make or break the course.”

In her third year, she was awarded a summer research scholarship—an opportunity to gain experience in mathematical research. The focus of the research was the undular bore solution of the Korteweg-De Vries equations. Her current Honours project is a continuation of this research.

She plans to take this research even further, through a Master’s degree and perhaps even a doctorate.

“While my current interest is in water waves, I would really like to try as many different areas of (applied) maths as I can. I think since today’s world is changing so fast, it’s good to have a rough idea for the future, but to not get too fixated on one particular thing.”

Originally from the USA, Lark moved to New Zealand when she was ten. She was surprised by the accessibility of the capital city.

“It amazed me that in New Zealand, you could go to university in the capital city and still have a high-quality student life.”

She describes Wellington as vibrant, extremely accessible, and both small and large at the same time.

“There’s always some new café or shop to pop into before heading back to the old favourites.”

Lark admits she has not always made the most of the Kelburn campus through her studies, but when she does, she finds an environment which is very conducive to study.

“There are lots of comfortable places to sit, quiet zones and talking zones, access to computers and printers, and most importantly well-stocked vending machines—essential when prepping for an exam.”

During the early stages of Patrizia’s university journey, she was approached by Te Kura Mātai Tatauranga—School of Mathematics and Statistics to see if she was interested in pursuing mathematics.

“When I was considering switching from business to mathematics, I was very well supported every step of the way.

“Without the University’s support, I never would have gained the confidence to focus on the subject that I am passionate about.”

Patrizia feels passionately about growing the number of women within STEM, and in particular within artificial intelligence.

“After graduating with my Bachelor’s degree, I hope to pursue a Master’s degree in Mathematics. I am fascinated by the world of artificial intelligence, so hopefully I will find my place in that area.”

Sapir describes mathematics as a creative field – one that is about far more than just memorising information or manipulating symbols.

“Mathematics is a creative field where we explore abstract ideas and patterns in a precise way in order to understand them and their properties. Think of how you would go about solving a Sudoku puzzle. The kind of thinking and reasoning required for that—looking for the patterns and deducing what comes next based on what you already have and the rules of the game–that's mathematical thinking.

“Mathematicians take this to the extreme—they ponder about very abstract things and big ideas, they find patterns and beauty, simple rules that give rise to immense complexity, and different perspectives of the same thing. It's heaps of fun.”

The academic staff at the University have provided Sapir with several opportunities.

“I have completed several “directed individual study” courses, allowing me to cover topics that weren't currently being offered. This was due to various lecturers who were willing to supervise and teach me despite their busy schedules and many other commitments. Last year I also had the opportunity to tutor a course, which I also greatly enjoyed.”

Sapir travelled with her supervisor, AProf Sasha Melnikov, to Singapore, where he planned to meet with his research collaborator at Nanyang Technological University (NTU). While there, Sapir worked with a PhD student from NTU who was working on a related research project.

“I have been extremely lucky to be able to carry out a summer research project and to go to Singapore as part of it. Both of these opportunities are thanks to my supervisors. By far this has been the most amazing, enriching, and exciting experience, for which I am extremely grateful.

“I learned many things from the PhD student, and I was also lucky enough to have a bit of time to look around Singapore. It was a very fun and intensive week with heaps of learning and lots of hard work, which was extremely enriching and motivating. I got to experience a different culture and university campus, and a really well-developed city.”

Sapir explains how mathematics becomes more interesting as you get further along into your degree.

“If you are already thinking about studying maths, then you certainly should. I would say, be patient—the deeper you get into the world of mathematics the more beauty, fascination, and excitement you will find. Studying maths at university is very different to high school—you'll get to be creative and you'll be taught by highly knowledgeable experts.

“The further you go along, the more interesting the courses get. A good number of the maths students started, like me, with a focus on other subjects such as Physics, only to discover later on that as the maths courses got more advanced, they got more interesting, and switched over to maths instead.”