MathPath 2025 - A Bright Beginning

     MathPath 2025 is underway! On June 29th we welcomed over 100 students back to Mount Holyoke’s campus for another summer of learning, community, and fun. Though we all came to MathPath via different routes, everyone was excited to begin the month. Students met their counselor groups, began making new friends at lunch and dinner, and enjoyed some ice breaker activities before heading off to bed to be well rested for their first full day at MathPath!


Student Life Director Dr. Vega, Counselor Troy, and some of his counselor group!


On Monday, after a filling breakfast, students gathered in Hooker Auditorium for the opening remarks from Executive Director Lara Pudwell (Prof. Pudwell) and were introduced to the faculty and staff by Camp Director April Verser (April) and Academic Director Matt Delong (Prof. D). After a quick stretch break, students experienced their first visiting plenary from Dr. Sam Vandervelde (Dr. V) about what it means to be “above average” in different contexts. We continued with the academic orientation by taking a tour of the academic facilities so students could see where their breakouts would be taking place over the course of the month!


MathPathers attend the opening presentation in Hooker Auditorium at Mount Holyoke


After lunch, students got their first look at this week’s selection of breakouts with the faculty’s “Show and Tell” presentation. This week’s breakout offerings included past favorites like Dr. David Clark’s (Dr. Clark) Error Correcting Codes and Dr. Nick Long’s (Dr. Nick) Making Simple Games Interesting. We also introduced a new MathPath breakout - Dr. Valerie Peterson’s (Dr. Peterson) World Changing Math! Once students had submitted their choices for breakouts, we heard from April and Student Life Director Julie Vega (Dr. Vega) about norms for the community and what experiences each MathPath day encompasses, including our very first “send-ups” session of the year! Students had a chance to write positive notes to other campers, faculty, and staff that they had meaningful interactions with to promote positive connections in our community!


Afterwards, students took a tour of campus in the form of a scavenger hunt! Tasks included items like finding the giant sloth skeleton on the fourth floor of Clapp Laboratory and writing thank-you notes to Mount Holyoke staff. Counselor groups had fun bonding while completing these silly side quests hidden on colorful sticky notes around campus and Camp Director April received several penguin-themed gifts and chalkboard drawings as a result. We continued getting to know each other in counselor groups and as a camp in the Communication, Collaboration, and Culture (CCC) plenary on Wednesday, finding things in common by playing President of the Venn and improving our communication skills by playing a camp-wide game of charades!


Counselor Mamie’s group taking a picture in front of the giant sloth (and earning some bonus points)!


Campers are looking forward to their first round of field trips this upcoming MathPath weekend (Sunday and Monday), so stay tuned to see what adventures they go on next!

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