CCNY Graduate Dahkota DeBold accepted for her Ph.D at the University of Tennessee

Dahkota DeBold is graduating from CCNY in 2022 with a B.S. in Pure Mathematics and Physics. She is going to move on to work on her Ph.D. at the University of Tennessee!

Hear about it from Dahkota DeBold herself!

My name is Dahkota DeBold, and I am a graduating senior this spring and will start a Ph.D. at the University of Tennessee this Fall. I started at CCNY in the Fall of 2017 intending to pursue an undergraduate degree in physics. I was initially interested in physics because I wanted to eventually study general relativity and black holes. During my sophomore and junior years, I became more interested in math, especially multivariable calculus. I had the pleasure of being taught by a Ph.D. student, Bryce Gollobit, and Prof. Bianca Santoro. They both highlighted the beauty of math to me in a way I had never seen before, and thus, I decided to declare a double major in Pure Math and Physics.

Since then, I have taken a course in Differential Geometry with Professor Christina Sormani of Lehman College, which led to a year-long research opportunity in Computational Geometry with her and Professor Chen-Yun Lin. Through this experience, I got to develop a broader understanding of what it means to be a woman in mathematics and how I can fit into academia. I have also since realized that I can work on general relativity problems through mathematics.

My time at CCNY has been wrought with many obstacles, but my mentors in the math department have been amazing at encouraging me to achieve my best. Specifically, Prof. Bianca Santoro and Prof. Zajj Daugherty of CCNY and Professor Chen Yun Lin and Professor Christina Sormani of Lehman College have been amazing and understanding mentors. They have taught me that resilience and effort matter above all else, especially in math. Also, they have given me a community to be a part of and be supported by which is invaluable and just feels nice.

My friends and family have also been supportive of me in every step of my journey through my undergraduate. They have always wanted me to follow my dreams, no matter where they lead. I am truly blessed and thankful to have such wonderful, supportive people in my life.

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