Summer Undergraduate Research Program - Fred Hutchinson ...

team with Drs. XX XXX and XX XXX, professors in the Departments of XX and XX,
respectively. While conducting research in the novel field of biological nonlinear dynamics,
I act as liaison between two experts in their respective fields, each of whom continue to
commend my efforts. Then, last summer, my mentor, Dr. XX XXX at XX’s Hospital XX,
thanked me for majoring in mathematics while pursuing medicine. Until recently, I realized
how my prior choices continue to mold my unique matrix. While I seek new opportunities
to improve others’ lives, they impact mine just as greatly. And my path in mathematics has
formed a unique perspective for a promising career in medicine.
Walking out of the Biology auditorium, a student in the back row stops me. When he
compliments Dr. XX’s use of statistics in lecture, I recognize him as a fellow engineer. He
goes on to thank me for his fondness of math, but I can’t quite understand his connection to
me. Then he explains how my Differential Equations/Linear Algebra reviews motivated
him to pursue a minor in the applied mathematics department. I’m shocked. I didn’t realize
that the small intersection of our lives could have such an effect. It seems that while all of
our matrices differ in various forms, we still exist in the same space. They can be implicitly
added or inverted at any moment, from any event, to result in a new formation that defines
our lives.
The matrix does not lack a memory; it maintains a strong sense of self.
Mathematicians use it to describe chaotic systems, such as mapping the trajectory of the
human body as it progresses through the running motion. Without the involvement of
random elements, the future behavior is determined by the initial conditions. However, it
mimics chaos: one small change can send the system into disorder. The rapid beating heart,
the sweaty palms, the pulsating nerves persist as I stand in front of the large lecture hall of
awaiting students. The matrix of my life, filled with the elements of my past, describes a
chaotic system. It may continue along some laid-­‐out path, but it can easily be disrupted to
travel in a new direction. I want to challenge my matrix. So, as I begin to delve into the
properties of linear algebra, the small perturbations on my shy personality happen to not
only interrupt my own life, but also affect others living in the same space.
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