Meet Leena Chen, this week’s CU Women in STEM subject who loves pure math, tea, and doggo memes

Bwog Science is back with CU Women in STEM, where we highlight the amazing women in science at Columbia. Today’s profile is from Leena Chen (Barnard ’20), who loves numbers and stars!

Major: Mathematics

What subjects are you interested in? Besides mathematics, I’m minoring in Ancient Studies as well! I’m interested in just about everything, from math to philosophy to music to history. I’d like to think that I’m an intellectually curious student who is passionate about learning, but it’s also possible that I’m just mediocre at everything and can thus apply myself to anything. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (Comment from the editor: Leena is actually amazing at math.)

How did you get interested in your subject? Can you remember the moment that got you hooked? People are often surprised when I mentioned this, but math was my least favorite subject in high school, and I only recently came around to it. Math is almost universally hated by everyone outside math and related fields, just because it’s so inaccessible. In the more formative years of our lives, people tend to experience math as a required course in school in which we are rewarded for the regurgitation of algorithms and formulas that we can then apply to any problem presented to us. It’s rigid, it’s pointless, and it’s boring.

I just kind of got lucky and sort of stumbled into math: I got interested in astronomy when I came to college, and I realized that meant that I should start taking some quantitative courses. Only after doing so did I discover that I actually enjoyed my math courses more than my other classes, and it kind of snowballed from there. I guess math can be thought of as a systematic method to discovering the world of abstract ideas and patterns, and I find it beautiful.

Most important research/extracurricular experiences so far: Research and internship experience in your specific field is harder to come by for (pure) math majors than it is for other STEM majors. Since math is in “everything”, we often rely upon so-called transferable quantitative skills rather than upon directly applicable coursework. As a result, my experiences thus far have been in physics and aerospace. During my time here, I’ve been especially involved with Columbia Space Initiative (check out Bwog’s ClubHop of CSI!); I’ll be CSI’s co-president next year.

What are your career goals? Most math majors typically end up in either academia, education, or industry (i.e. finance) after college. I suppose my personal career goals are somewhat unconventional – I’m hoping to enter the aerospace industry, though not as an engineer. I plan on getting a law degree after my bachelor’s and hopefully utilize both my quantitative and qualitative skills to work in aviation/aerospace law.

Favorite science building on campus? This isn’t a science building, but I’ve come to really enjoy 417 Math thanks to having class in there every morning from Monday through Thursday. It’s a small, air-conditioned, brightly-lit room featuring very smooth blackboards covering two of the four walls and featuring a beautiful view of Barnard (my home) on a third wall.

Favorite mathematician? This one is hard. I’d probably say Katherine Johnson, just because of how inspiring her personal story was and also because of how impressive her orbital trajectories work at NASA was. The book/movie, Hidden Figures, really brought her story into public awareness and has done wonders for encouraging POC and women in math.

What do you do BESIDES math? I like taking walks whenever I can, consuming lots of sci-fi (especially Star Trek), drinking lots of tea, and making doggo memes. I also spend a lot of time with Columbia Space Initiative, my space nerd family.

What advice would you give to someone interested in a STEM major? If you’re at all interested in STEM, then go for it! STEM majors tend to be a little more time-consuming than other majors just due to major requirements, lab work, etc., but it’s definitely worth it if you enjoy it. Also, if you come from a background that is underrepresented in your field, try finding an organization (i.e. Association for Women in Math) in which you can befriend others like yourself, because it’s nice to be able to relate to similar experiences.

Favorite classes/professors at Columbia? Professor Yihang Zhu in the Math Department is a really sweet man who seems to be genuinely happy scribbling on a chalkboard at 10am in the morning. He has some really funny comments and he often helps keep the lecture engaging by telling us relevant historical anecdotes along the way. If you ever get the chance in future, I’d highly recommend taking any math course with him!

We hope you enjoyed this column! If you know of any awesome women in STEM at Columbia whom you think would be a great subject for this column, please email us at science@bwog.com.