Interview With Math Club President – John McMahon
The President of the Math club, John McMahon, shares the story of forming the current Math club, the hurdles he faced, events the club hosts, and his advice to people who want to get into Math in this exclusive interview.
The DSU Math Club is a group of students interested in mathematics who meet weekly to discuss exciting math topics and work on producing tangible works. Here is the story of how the current Math club came to be.
The Beginning.
John explained how he came to be the president of the math club and how he came to love math. He explained that math is what explains nature. To demonstrate this, he gives a very beautiful example: pick up your phone and drop it (not from somewhere very high). When your phone drops, many laws of nature are working. Math explains why the phone dropped the way it dropped. Math also gives you an idea of what would’ve happened if you dropped your phone in a different way.
He also tells the story of how he helped reignite the Math club after its inactivity. John explains that the whole thing started very modestly: just him and a few of his friends solving math problems on Project Euler (an online database of interesting Math problems). With time, that tiny group grew into something big and that is when he decided it was time to make it official.
The Present
Currently, the club is very active with weekly meetings on interesting math concepts. A few weeks ago, the club discussed the P vs NP problem, a celebrated concept in Computer Science and Mathematics. John encourages everyone to pop in the club’s meetings. He explains that math connects to every STEM discipline and helps people in other areas like finance. Students can even recommend concepts they’d like to discuss at the meetings.
The Math club is a welcoming place for everyone. They regularly invite professors and experts to talk about certain topics which provides a fantastic way for students to learn math concepts outside of the classes. John encourages both beginners and experienced ones to drop by in the meeting. Every week, the club discusses something interesting. Math is such a universal subject that you’re sure to find a topic that interests you.
The math club is currently working on the Prime labelling problem.
What’s next?
The weekly meetings will continue which is where the fun happens. You can join the Discord group for updates on meeting times, connect with fellow math aficionados or discuss an interesting problem you came across. Even if you’re not a STEM major, you’ll find something that’ll help you in life. As John says, everything from Computer Science to Finance relates to Math. The weekly meetings take place in the Karl Mundt library.
Final Words
For students undecided or anxious of joining the club, John has a clear message: Math is beautiful and math is everywhere. There is no requirement to enjoy math. Just pop in to one of the meetings and explore what the club has to offer.
The Math club is a testament to DSU’s commitment to academic excellence. By providing a sense of community, the club encourages both aspiring mathematicians and hobbyists alike to discuss their interests and meet new people. Even if you don’t like math, the math club could prove to be a valuable avenue for you to finally find that spark
