2017 Senior Stories
Three students took Math 412 Connections Seminar in Spring 2017. Here are their short personal stories.
Christian Bechler
When I came to Goshen I wanted to do everything, but of course I couldn’t. I became a Math and History major with a Global Economics and Bible, Religion and Philosophy minor. Math and History seemed reasonable because history straddles the humanities and mathematics provides the technical skills and critical thinking abilities necessary to understand the sciences.
The reason I was drawn to Goshen was for more than academics, but also due to the desire and emphasis upon accomplishing social change. In my freshmen year I had the opportunity to do G.E.D. tutoring in the Elkhart County Jail and understand the experiences of youth who were being tried as adults within our criminal justice system. The experience was eye-opening; I entered feeling uncertain about how cooperative my students would be, suspecting they may even be hostile. In fact, the opposite was true—they were friendly people who wanted to learn. While I may not have been able to make a significant difference in their lives, it was compelling to hear their stories and recognize the challenges they faced and forced me to recognize the injustices they faced.
After I graduate, I hope to first engage in international service to better understand the nature of global poverty and to witness first hand the positive and negative impacts of globalization, to humanize my understanding of the economy. Once I have done this, I wish to enroll in graduate school in either behavioral, development or microeconomics in order to create a more efficient and equitable world.
Luke Graber
Coming into college, I had the idea of becoming a math teacher. I was inspired by my high school math teacher who showed interest in all her students and had a great passion for math. Within time, I realized teaching wasn’t for me. I turned to interdisciplinary where I could study subject matters that I was interested in. The three topics I chose were math, chemistry, and physics. Of the three, chemistry has been the most interesting so far with the real-life implications. Along with academics, I am involved in choir and a couple of sports teams that help me see the benefits of working together to complete a common goal. With my college career ending shortly, I plan to stay in the Goshen area because the community is very tight and passionate. I am also hopeful in obtaining a coaching/assistant position to help guide students through life and sports.
Leah Landis
I’m a senior mathematics and secondary education major at Goshen College, and I absolutely love my areas of study. My initial plan was to major in social work because I knew I wanted a future working with people. When I was registering for classes the summer before my first year at Goshen, it struck me that I would never take another math class with a social work major and I was surprised by how disappointed that made me. I immediately switched to a math major with a secondary education certification so that I could combine my love of numbers with my desire to help others. That was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, and I’ve never looked back.
I’ve really enjoyed the community that I’ve found at Goshen College, especially within the orchestra, in which I play the trumpet, and my intramural sports teams. My past year at GC has been especially exciting and engaging. Last spring semester I was on Study Service Term (SST) in Cambodia where I studied the culture, language, and history of the country in Phnom Penh and taught English in Mondulkiri. This fall I had a very different but equally challenging semester student teaching at Concord Junior High School. While the hours were long and pre-algebra got a little dull, I absolutely loved my students and it was an incredibly fulfilling experience that validated my decision to major in math and education. I formed great connections with a lot of my kids and am looking forward to visiting my old classroom this semester to catch up with them and continue co-teaching with my cooperating teacher. If all goes well, I hope to teach in Goshen Community Schools after graduation either at the middle or high school level.