Rebecca Rachan ’16 attends prestigious math workshop

Rebecca Rachan ‘16, a mathematics major at North Central College, participated in the Undergraduate Modeling Workshop May 18-23 at North Carolina State University. Rachan was one of 29 students from across the nation—from schools like Virginia Tech, Brown and Penn State—accepted into the prestigious workshop.

“When I got in, I was shocked and incredibly excited,” says Rachan, who completed her rigorous application with help from Marco Martinez, North Central College assistant professor of mathematics.

“Dr. Martinez encouraged me to apply,” says Rachan. “He knows I’m interested in going to graduate school for mathematics and thought this would be a great opportunity for me.”

The six-day workshop began with research presentations by professors from the University of North Carolina, Duke, Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Students later received hands-on experience with the statistical concepts of modeling, networks and community detection. They applied these new concepts to a three-day group project and presented their conclusions on the final day.

“I had the opportunity to work with professors from prestigious universities,” says Rachan. “This was truly a life-changing experience for me.”

Written by Troy Kelleher ’16