By Tim Koussas
I love mathematics; I imagine it’s one of the first things that come to mind when people who know me hear my name. It’s certainly the first thing I think of when I think about who I am.
Looking back on my school days, however, things weren’t always so clear. I was one of those people who didn’t really know what they wanted to do after school or after university. That’s still true to an extent; I know I want to do something in mathematics, but I’m not sure what exactly. What’s different now is that I feel comfortable in that I’ll have a good future, because I’ve opened a lot of doors for myself.
For us kids (I’m not that old), there’s always the question of what we’re going to do later in life. Something I find puzzling about my love for mathematics is that, even though it emerged only a few years ago, it feels like it’s always been there. There might have been signs of it growing up, but the only reason I didn’t pick up on it is because I didn’t even know what proper mathematics was like! I thought it was just long division and manipulating numbers… oh boy.
If there’s one thing I would like to share about what I do, it’s that mathematics isn’t advertised very well; at least, that was my own experience in school, and that of most people I know. I wasn’t fortunate enough to have parents or other adults in my life that did mathematics beyond high school. It’s easy to see why it’s not advertised well: it’s just too difficult to describe what mathematics is about. There are so many areas that aren’t encountered in high school, each having their own flavours and characters, and there are still plenty of areas I don’t know about.
In my eyes, the main positive with receiving an AMSI vacation scholarship was that it allowed me to explore an area that almost no mathematicians know about (thrackles; one is pictured above). I had a mixed experience with the actual mathematics. It was overall positive. Thrackles have a certain charm, but there were also times when they were quite frustrating. It sometimes feels like they have a life of their own!
The topic itself wasn’t the main reward, though. It was the fact that I got a better idea of what was out there in mathematics. I already knew there was a lot of diversity, but I’m starting to appreciate the fact that you can explore and find patterns in anything you can imagine. This is why I love mathematics so much: you have so much freedom, and you can tell your own story. It is such a shame that so many get turned off mathematics in school, before they see the real thing.
So, how did I decide what I wanted to do with my life? I’m still not entirely sure. I always tried to do my own thing… music, LEGO, video games. Of course, everyone has things they should be doing – we can’t just do what we want all the time – but it’s important to allow yourself to do things that you want to do, and to be honest with yourself about what you enjoy. It’s the best path to a future that will keep you happy.
Tim Koussas was one of the recipients of a 2013/14 AMSI Vacation Research Scholarship.