A student-teacher pair take teaching beyond the curriculum
Kristie Gillooly
J
unho Won ’14 came to CA as a sophomore and quickly fulfilled the mathematics requirements, and then some. Last summer, he took two classes at Columbia University and two or three others elsewhere. One evening, at Junho’s request, George Larivee walked him through the entire AP statistics curriculum. They have also met for “an unofficial class” every Wednesday evening, to discuss measure theory and integration, over
dinner in the Stu-Fac. “He picks up this stuff faster than I do,” says Larivee. This year, Junho traveled to Cambridge, Mass., every week to take part in the MIT PRIMES program. Participants work on unsolved problems alongside graduate students, who serve as mentors. Junho was paired with second-year grad student Chiheon Kim, who provided support along the way — from encouraging Junho to persevere through
difficulties, to helping him format his research. Junho presented his findings, which related to graph theory, at the Joint Mathematics Meeting in Baltimore, Md., one of the largest mathematics events in the world. He was a rarity among presenters, most of whom were undergraduate or graduate students. Even so, Junho received an award for outstanding presentation. He says he looks forward to studying mathematics
in college, and that his experiences here and the significant support he has received along the way have helped him narrow his focus. “I had been thinking a lot about studying physics, astronomy, or brain science,” says Junho, who came to CA from South Korea. But the varied exposure to different areas of mathematical study, both on- and off-campus, confirmed his passion for the field. With many thanks, he says, to his mentors.
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CA MPU S N E WS
Mathematics and Mentorship