My name is Joselyn Hathaway, a freshman mathematics major at Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) in Elizabeth City, North Carolina and from Gates County, North Carolina. I am a participant in the Center of Excellence in Remote Sensing Education Research (CERSER) program with Dr. Linda Hayden. The CERSER program helps me learn extensive mathematics and science related to my major.

I have done well in mathematics since elementary school. My interest in mathematics and science began the summer before sixth grade in the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) Middle School Program. The program presented standard mathematics for middle school grades and carried into the academic school year. Science was also connected to the mathematics by finding measurements and locations on maps. I have also participated in the North Carolina-Mathematics and Science Education Network (NC-MSEN) Pre-college program on Saturdays with Mr. Milton Bond from sixth grade to twelfth grade. During the program, there were four classes: English, mathematics, science, and an elective. The materials that we studied were very similar to what was currently being taught in school. This enabled me to get ahead in my mathematics classes and receive help with homework before going back to school. Near the end of MSEN, there was an awards ceremony and competition titled MSEN Day. The competition included students from Fayetteville State University, North Carolina State University, and University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. During the awards ceremony, I received awards for getting honor roll/principal’s list at my school and won second and third place in mathematics at MSEN Day. Being in MSEN from middle school through high school has helped me sharpen my mathematics skills.

During the summer of 2015, I participated in the Summer Transportation Institute (STI) with Dr. Ellis Lawrence. This program was four weeks long and filled with events each day, which exposed me to various modes of transportation and how mathematics was applied to them. One formula presented was used to find how much luggage could be put into a plane and also how many people can get into the plane while another was used to find the center of gravity (CG). Other lessons included mathematical formulas that are used to find resistance and current flow in circuits and used to build a working circuit on a circuit board. The most important lesson I learned during the STI Summer Program was trigonometric functions, which was recently taught in my Pre-calculus class.

During my spring semester, I contributed to a team research project with CERSER. Our team did research on standardized tests and test taking strategies. We also compared the HBCU’s to see the differences in test scores and the kinds of programs that were offered to help students approach standardized tests. In April 2016, I attended the ADMI conference in Winston-Salem. There were representatives and guest speakers from different companies such as Intel and Yahoo. During these sessions, the presenters shared information about their company and explained internships that were offered. I also attended the IEEE Joint meeting with GRSS and WIE at NC State University. At this meeting, Melba Crawford spoke on the ongoing remote sensing project and its results. I was also able to tour the campus and the Center of Geospatial Analysis.