用他们自己的话说: Mathematician 阿纳斯塔西娅查韦斯 on the PRIMES Grant, 她的第一代旅程, 和“未知”的快乐

用他们自己的话说 is a series in which we introduce you to the Gaels you need to meet—students, 校友, 教师, 还有员工，让他们讲述自己的故事, 用他们自己的话来说.

满足 阿纳斯塔西娅查韦斯他是数学系的助理教授 & Computer Science Department and recent recipient of a PRIMES Grant. 美国国家科学基金会(NSF), the $300,000 grant will advance her research into matroid theory (more on that in a bit!), 促进SMC本科生的数学研究, 正式确立了十大正规网赌平台和 纯数学与应用数学研究所.

创造家族史

我来自加州圣罗莎，土生土长. Neither of my parents went to college; my mom worked for the state for almost 30 years, 做文书工作, 我爸爸从我很小的时候就在建筑行业工作了. 大学并不是这个等式的一部分. But my senior year of high school, someone came in to present about Santa Rosa Junior College. I decided to apply, not really understanding what that would entail. Oftentimes, people at my high school just sort of graduated and floated around. But my GPA was high enough that I earned a scholarship, so I went for it. 我觉得这么做是对的. 

意想不到的转折

上大专时，我想成为一名作家. I tested into calculus, though, and ended up taking a number of math classes. When I sat down with my counselor to transfer to San Francisco State University and told him I wanted to be a journalism major, 他看了我的成绩单说, “你上了那么多数学课, 你做得很好. 你真的可以用数学做任何事.” So on the counselor’s recommendation, I majored in math at SF State.

知道+不知道=数学

我踏上了一条不是我自己设计的道路. During my undergraduate years, I had a real love-hate relationship with math; I think most people do. 你挣扎啊挣扎, 有时你会想，这是不是太辛苦了, because it seems like people around you aren’t struggling as hard. 但就在那一刻，我恍然大悟, 你就会忘记这一切有多艰难. 你会想，“哦，我想再来一次.” That was how the cycle went: spending so much time in the unknowing—sometimes fun, 通常不是, usually uncomfortable—hoping to get a few seconds of knowing. 

Chavez is proud to work at a Hispanic Serving Institution like Saint Mary’s, she says: “I want to disrupt the stereotype that keeps so many Black and Brown students from feeling capable, 自信, 并被欢迎加入数学界.”

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通往教授之路

本科毕业时，我正处在人生的十字路口. 我和丈夫意外怀孕了, 所以我必须决定是否要留在学校. Around this time, I was accepted to the SF State master’s program and received the NSF’s LSAMP通往博士奖学金的桥梁, which supports minority students planning to get their PhD in STEM. Once again, another opportunity that paid for me to stay in school and keep studying. 我怎么能拒绝呢?

For my master’s thesis at SF State, I researched these high-dimensional objects called polytopes. 想象一下三维的金字塔, 立方体，进入第四维度, 或者第100次, 或者任何你能想到的. 这些是多面体. 研究它们确实激发了我对组合学的兴趣, 这是我在伯克利读博士时更关注的. I’ve always been drawn to working with structures rather than just the theory. With combinatorics—and specifically matroid theory—it felt like moving puzzle pieces around, 是什么让我开始学数学的. 我只是玩得很开心. 

为什么拟矩阵很重要

当我想到矩阵理论, I think of it as an area of mathematics that captures the essence of how things work. Let’s say you have a bunch of dots and edges that connect them—a graph, 本质上, 写在一张纸上. And let’s say you also have a bunch of arrows and space that you combine to create a three-dimensional space. 这些事情需要两种完全不同的语言. But with matroid theory, I can describe both things using one language. 我可以告诉你它们在说同一件事. 

That’s what I love about matroid theory: It reveals common ground where you’d never expect it. It doesn't feel like physics and computer visualization should be related, for instance. 但类人猿可以帮助你看到它们的存在! 这些惊喜让我兴奋不已. They make me want to find new connections, because matroids continue to show us what’s possible. 

为下一代重塑方程式

Working at a Hispanic Serving Institution like Saint Mary’s is something I feel incredibly proud of and grateful for. 从小学到大学, 我很少见到有色人种的老师和教职员工, 尤其是拉丁folx. 在我职业生涯的早期, I realized I wanted to fill that void in math and academic communities by becoming a professor myself. 

I also wanted to provide a different perspective on the narrative of “who does math.这就是, I want to disrupt the stereotype that keeps so many Black and Brown students from feeling capable, 自信, 并被欢迎加入数学界. 在圣玛丽, I’m blessed to be able to work with a widely diverse group of students, supporting their growth as the next generation of forward-thinking, 对数学有信心的人.

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NSF PRIMES资助对她和SMC意味着什么

The two-year grant is meant to support 教师 at minority-serving institutions. What that looks like for me: I’ll be supported for a year of academic leave, when I’ll go down to the 纯数学与应用数学研究所 at the UCLA campus and continue to study matroid theory. 然后, 第二年, I’ll return to Saint Mary’s to teach and continue to build up a research group in our department. I’ll also have funding to support student researchers for both years, 在暑期研究项目期间及以后. 

最终, the grant is a great opportunity for Saint Mary’s students to see that mathematical research is something that’s out there, 可供他们使用, 可以做到的. 

她对未来第一代数学家的建议

If it’s something you like, don't try to talk yourself out of it. 享受生活，寻找那些让你快乐的事情. 找到你的社区. I always tell my students, “I’d rather do math with people than by myself.” If you can find folks you get along with and do math together—that’s the best.

(为清晰起见，本采访经过了浓缩和编辑.)

DISCOVER a wide range of hands-on opportunities through the 暑期研究计划. 申请将于2024年春季开放.

阅读更多: 西部最佳:圣玛丽教堂排名第一. 4 .顶尖大学排名 

海登摆架子 is Staff Writer at the Office of Marketing and Communications for Saint Mary's College. 给他写.