Professional Statement 

My name is Courtney Michell Farmer and I am from Hampton, Virginia. I am a junior at Elizabeth City State University (ECSU), located in Elizabeth City, NC. My major is Mathematics with a minor in Education.  

 Growing up, my grandmother constantly emphasized the importance of education in my future. She told me that it would be important to my success and that I should never to let anyone take that away me. Mathematics became my favorite subject, because when you look around in today's world its all over. From telling time, adding money, making sure you get back the right change, in careers like engineering, architect, teaching and so much more. Mathematics comes so simple and easy to me.

             Completing high school became a challenge for me but Mrs. Hardy; my mathematics teacher was very supportive of my future ambitions. She saw potential in me and my goals of majoring in math in college and later becoming a teacher.  She motivated me to be all I could be in high school, because she knew it would pay off later on in life. Though I was not her biological child, Mrs. Hardy took me under her wing like I was one of hers. She became a positive role model for me and inspired me to achieve my dreams.   

Out of a family of four siblings, I am the first one to graduate from high school and to attend college. My main goal is for me to be preparing to do everything I need to do to achieve my master in Mathematics, and later achieve a doctorate degree.  

 I am majoring in mathematics with a minor in education. This is the best major for me because I know I can make a difference in students, while helping them as my teacher helped me. Currently as a junior, The Center Of Excellence in Remote Sensing Education and Research Program (CERSER), under the leadership of Dr. Linda Hayden ,  is helping me prepare and become a more rounded person from a professional standpoint. As of now, I have been a part of three research experiences and projects. This past school year the project was titled “The Impact of 2006-2012 Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets(CReSIS) Summer Research Programs that Influence Student's Choice of a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) Related Major in College”. This project research examined the role of practical research experience during the summer year of 2006-2012 for talented minority secondary students studying in STEM fields. This summer I had the opportunity to take part in two research experiences. The first was titled, “Analyzing Factors that Influence Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda) at Elizabeth City State University”. This project dealt with extracted tree cores from the loblolly pines across the campus of Elizabeth City State University and compared the correlation of diameter at base height (DBH) and tree age. Also this summer I worked on a project which was  entitled “TeraScan Curriculum Development and Integration of SeaSpace Technology into the Classroom”. This research dealt with creating a training curriculum that focused on the K-12 classroom, along with college course, and outside governmental agencies.  
 After graduating from Elizabeth City State University with an bachelor's degree in Mathematics, I would like to give back to my community and teach in my hometown of Hampton, Virginia. I have always, and will continue to dream big and work hard to achieve my goals of graduating from ECSU with my degree and using it to the best of my ability. As an educator, my main goal is to make students, from all life circumstances and in every community, attain the potential to thrive, grow, and learn in their future undertakings. I hope to be a role model and change students from going down the wrong path and aim to make mathematics, a normally unpopular subject, appealing to all youth. I feel that education is the most valuable and precious thing that one can want.