Emery Sanchez 

Locke ES

Prosser Career Academy HS

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Through Math Circles, I’ve become trilingual. I’m now fluent in Spanish, English, and the language of the universe, math. 

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Emery joined Math Circles of Chicago via Project Exigent, a consortium of mathematicians, teachers, and students on the west side of Chicago. She has shown a strong commitment to both the “bread” of her core math classes and the “roses” of math circles and the creativity she can show in these spaces.

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How did you develop an interest in mathematics? What has your learning experience been like in school up to this point? What challenges, socially and/or academically, have you faced in this journey? 

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Ever since elementary school, math had never been my strongest subject. I struggled with basic multiplication problems, long division, and figuring out how many apples Johnny had if he bought 426 and ate 359. I remember sitting down at the dinner table with my mom trying to memorize my times tables and hating every second of it. 

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Throughout my childhood, I remember just thinking that math was not for me, and I was okay with that because I happened to be good at other subjects like reading and writing. That was at least until 3rd grade. For context, prior to 3rd grade I had lived in Mexico where all of my classes were in Spanish and when I moved to the United States, I knew zero English. Moving to a different country was a big change, and I found myself struggling not only with math, but also in every other class, even in the classes I used to be good at in Mexico. I became very frustrated with myself and this frustration stayed with me all the way up until middle school. 

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Thankfully for me at the time, most of my middle school years were spent online because of the pandemic, and this meant that teachers were less strict and relying on the internet or friends for help became easier. Because of this, I received an A in math which got me placed into Algebra I in 8th grade. If I was lost before, now I was completely gone. Variables, slope, substitution, and elimination were concepts that just by thinking about it, made my brain melt. Even after staying after school every Monday and Wednesday for help, my mind still couldn’t grasp anything that was taught to me. I remember hearing one of my classmates say, “How do people not get slope? It’s literally rise over run.” In that moment, I felt like the only one who didn’t belong there. For lack of a better word, I felt stupid. I hated math.  As expected, I failed my Algebra test and had to retake Algebra I entering high school.  

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High school was definitely the turning point for me. Throughout my four years, I’ve had incredible teachers who were passionate about a subject that isn’t usually seen as fun or exciting. For the first time in my life, math started to become second nature to me and as my skills kept building, I started taking harder classes, from Algebra to Honors Algebra, then advanced Trigonometry, and finally the highest level at my school, IB Applications and Interpretations. I also joined Exigent and spent Saturdays with Math Circles. Now, I look back and am shocked by how much I’ve grown, not only as a person but as a mathematician. I’m proud to say that I love math and everything it’s taught me. I’m also excited to show my sister, who hates math just like I once did, that math is for everyone and she too can be a mathematician.

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What is your mathematical power? How has your work with Math Circles of Chicago helped you develop that power?

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Through several math classes and programs like Exigent and Math Circles of Chicago, I’ve also come to understand what my mathematical power is. It’s helped me notice that I'm a very curious individual who isn’t satisfied with just getting the right answer. I would also say that my critical thinking skills have helped me a lot, especially because of Math Circles. Math Circles has really nurtured my curiosity and critical thinking skills. It’s not like a normal math class that follows a strict curriculum. It’s more open and free flowing, with a lot of room for creativity and collaboration. You’re allowed to explore, to make mistakes, and to figure it out again. 

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In a recent Math Circles lesson, I really got to put my critical thinking skills to use. We worked on a 5x5 board covered with red and yellow chips. The goal was to flip the colors so that the red chips moved to where the yellow ones were and the yellow ones moved to the red’s place. At first, we didn’t know any of the rules, so we made random moves and learned through trial and error. Eventually, we figured what the rules were but that didn’t get us too far so we decided to start smaller. We tried a 1x5 board, and once we found the pattern, we moved on to a 3x3 board, and finally returned to the 5x5, where we were able to finally solve the puzzle. That lesson really showed me how powerful it is to break things down before tackling a bigger problem. 

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MC2 College Pathways is dedicated to helping students find their own pathway forward in STEM. Please describe your future plans for college and beyond. 

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Lately, I’ve been very interested in nuclear engineering. I think it is something that could help solve one of the biggest problems we face today, which is our energy usage. With the rise of new technology, the world keeps using more and more power and not in the most environmentally friendly way, and I would want to be part of the group of people who work on ways to make energy more efficient and sustainable in the long run. From what I know, nuclear engineers work to design and improve systems that can harness nuclear energy in a safer and cleaner way for the environment. Which is something really important for the future, and I want to contribute to that. 

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It is a no-brainer that engineering requires a lot of math, and Math Circles has helped me build the kind of math skills that I know I’ll need in this or any other field I would like to pursue. Math Circles has taught me to think critically, be resilient, and look at problems from different angles. Which are all important math and life skills to have. No matter what field I go into, I know that I’ll always need to solve problems and think logically. 

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Math Circles has also helped me become better at collaborating with others. It’s a space where everyone’s ideas matter, and where working together is often the best strategy for solving a problem. I think that’s something that will be really important in my future too, since engineers often work in teams and depend on each other to find the best solutions to problems. 

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Math Circles has also changed the way I think about college. I think a lot of times, students like me who are from the West Side, Hispanic, and don’t go to a selective enrollment school, don’t always see people like them going into STEM fields. Math Circles has provided me with a place where I feel like I belong, where I see that I am just as capable as anyone else. It reminds me that with determination and hard work, anything is possible. This program not only has prepared me for my more advanced math classes, but also for college and what comes after that.

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