CCNY Graduate Monika Cooney

Monika Cooney graduated from CCNY in 2018 with a B.A in mathematics and a M.S in mathematics in 2021. She is now working on her Ph.D at the CUNY Graduate Center.

Hear about it from Monika herself!

I graduated from CCNY with my B.A Mathematics in 2018 and continued to finish my M.S. at CCNY in 2021. I decided to continue pursuing my Ph.D. at the CUNY Graduate Center, where I’m just finishing my second semester. The journey to get where I am was not easy and I truly believe that success in mathematics is not about how “good” you are, but about how hard you work.

I initially thought I’d pursue a career in math education, which I did do for a year after I completed my B.S. While teaching, I remembered the conversations I had with Prof. Feigon, who was a wonderful mentor, and who had encouraged me to pursue my Ph.D. I also missed the academic environment where I could spend time learning new mathematics as well! In addition to that, my mother was a mathematician and provided a lot of inspiration for me growing up.

The pandemic has provided so many struggles with motivation and it was difficult to stay motivated, but I am glad to be where I am and look forward to continuing my Ph.D. My advice to any new student at CCNY would be to follow your heart and what you like to do. Work hard to pursue what you like and keep in mind that nothing comes without effort, but it’s all worth it. Life takes a lot of work, so it’s better to do things you like along the way!

My experience with the math department at CCNY was truly a wonderful experience. I want to thank Prof. Wolf, Prof. Steinberg, and Prof. Bak for their continuous support through my time at CCNY.

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