The program consists of daily mathematics lectures, research presentations, colloquia, community-building events and discussions on equity and identity in mathematics, teaching practices and other professional development skills.
Just as important, Dempsey said, was how the program allowed students to be vulnerable.
“Especially in math classes, there is a huge stigma around admitting you don’t know something, since how people perform in those classes is very tied to their self-worth, so admitting something like that feels very dangerous,” Dempsey said. “But at the Edge program, people were very willing to open up and admit they didn’t know something which was super helpful because a lot of other people didn’t know it either.”
Solving the college equation
Dempsey grew up in Oregon, just 12 miles from Oregon State University in Albany.
Although she has always loved mathematics for feeling like a puzzle, she was intimidated by it in high school.
“I took a community college course and that was the first time I considered, ‘I don’t know if I can do this,’ because I really struggled with the pace. I wasn’t sure if it was for me, but I got through it,” she said.
Oregon State was an easy choice because of the flexibility to change majors.
“I wasn’t sure at the time whether I wanted to do more applied science or pure math. I thought OSU would be a good fit because I’d be able to make my decision once I arrived,” she said.
Once on campus, Dempsey utilized office hours to stay on top of the course load and made friends in her classes to talk through different approaches to the same problem. She also joined Math Club and the Association of Women in Mathematics.
“A huge benefit of both of them is being able to talk about math with people who also enjoy it and community-building,” she said. The organizers of Math Club in particular encourage non-mathematics majors to join.
