I knew that UATX was something of a risk when I came here— both institutionally, being a then untested university with developing credentials, and socially, as new and unconventional things often are. But I also knew that I wanted an education where ideas were taken seriously and questions were valued over credentials. When I explored the options available for me, UATX was both the most serious and the most exciting. After two years here, I would make the same decision again.
A course called “The American Experiment” has been one of my favorites at UATX. In it, we traced the progress of the United States from The Declaration of Independence though to the progressive era in the early 20th century. The course forced me to confront questions about America that I had not previously and prepared me to make better sense of contemporary difficulties. I also enjoyed a course called “Probability”, which helped develop the mathematical tools for thinking clearly about a world of uncertainty and randomness, and making decisions in it.
I spent the summer after my freshman year working on a small goat farm in the Apennine Mountains of Italy. I helped manage a herd of 50— milking, herding, and providing basic veterinary care for the goats. Living and working with the family that ran the farm gave me a chance to test myself in a place where nothing was familiar, and to learn traditional skills from people who had been practicing them their whole lives. This summer, I am going to the UK to join Wolfram, a computational technology and research company, to work on product development and marketing with their team. I am still deciding what will come after graduation, but I know I am drawn to work which sits at the intersection of quantitative reasoning and serious human questions. UATX is preparing me well for this, and I plan to keep exploring while I am here.
