Exit slip 10.22

When I read the Iranian mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani, I’m   aware of how hard it could be for a woman of that time period to compete in the mathematics field. I believe that she must have overcome many challenges and prejudices against women mathematicians, especially when she is also Iranian. However, her interest led her down the road and she is never stopping. As noted, “Maryam’s work was driven by a certain pure joy”. Anyone could be a mathematician regardless of their age, gender and ethnicity. For the stereotypes, scientists are usually men, middle-aged men... with heavy glasses. They tend to be a little bit nerdy... I think it’s almost the same for mathematicians, except that mathematicians are even more unsociable and stay alone more often. Neither of these professions has many women in them. Well, stereotypes always say that some people are not good at something but it’s not the case.  

When Mirzakhani was in sixth grade, in Tehran, a teacher discouraged her interest in mathematics, noting that she was not particularly talented, not at the top of the class. A quarter century later, in 2014, she became the first woman (and the first Iranian) to win the Fields Medal, math’s highest honor.

This also says something about people’s judgements. Even the teachers, or the professors are not the best judge of one’s ability and potential. One could always achieve things without following others’ expectations of how one should be like. Some people in China even say that girls should not be too smart so that they could find a husband. Well, it might be true but at the same time, we should be able to challenge the stereotypes and tell them that a girl does not need such thing to live.