Name: Becca Daigle
Year: Sophomore
Major: Applied and Computational Mathematics
Hometown: Pensacola, FL
Relationship Status: Taken
Her Campus (HC): What are you passionate about?
Becca Daigle (BD): Justice, long equations and food.
HC: When did your interest in math start?
BD: In middle school I was in a gifted math class. Because of that, once I got to high school, I doubled up in math classes my freshman year where I met Mr. Bobbitt. He really explained things to me in a way that interested me and made math into something that was amazing.
HC: How did he explain math in a way that made you want to do it for the rest of your life?
BD: I was taking BC calculus and we were doing Taylor’s series (a really difficult topic). Mr. Bobbitt brought Euler’s formula into it, proved it and there was a specific moment when I finally understood Taylor’s series. I was so excited and I got this huge satisfaction out of it and I thought, “I could do this.”
HC: Are your parents good at math?
BD: My mom went to Florida Institute of Technology and is definitely better than my dad at math. He helped us with homework more often, but when we needed help with difficult problems, we went to my mom. I didn’t realize it then, but I definitely think my mom helped me foster an interest in math. A lot of girls aren’t interested in STEM fields because they didn’t have women in their life that liked math or they were subtly told that women aren’t good at math. But fortunately, my mom helped nurture an interest for me.
HC: Do you see evidence in your life of sexism within the STEM classes you take?
BD: Most of my classes have a pretty even gender split, so I think things are getting a lot better, but women in the field are still a crazy minority. Guys also don’t show up to class as much as the girls do, but the girls have to work harder to earn the respect of the guys in the class because they have this internalized idea that girls can’t do the work and that it’s too difficult for them. I have one female computer science teacher and there are a lot of guys who don’t respect her. Guys in that class are always asking each other if they think she’s competent enough.
HC: Your passion for social change led you to be the treasurer of Empowering Women Globally. Is that fulfilling?
BD: We cosponsored a run last weekend that helped victims of domestic abuse and tonight we are helping with the Oasis Center by babysitting for single moms while they take classes. It’s important for me to help people and give back to the community. It’s also cool to see all different types of people being educated on issues and learning about gender politics.
HC: So you are an officer of EWG, you have a part time job, five classes, a boyfriend and you maintain a social life. How do you find balance?
BD: You just do everything because it has to get done, but cleaning definitely falls short. I go to a lot of yoga classes. It’s a good combination of stress relief and exercise. I also blog a lot and use music to de-stress.