Elliott Day

In the fourth grade, I was given a book about the mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss, who outsmarted his teacher’s tedious task of adding all numbers up to one hundred using a simple trick now known as Gauss’s Summation. This story intrigued me, not just because of the new party trick I picked up, but because of the mathematical intuition demonstrated by deriving the equation.

Viewing this seemingly tedious problem differently fascinated me, and it became the way I approach mathematics. I am drawn to the world of math not for a collection of formulas, but for learning it as a language to speak with the world around me. The University of Texas has a spirit of combining theory with real-world application that is central to its culture. I hope to connect the underlying problem-solving capabilities of applied mathematics to complicated real-world systems, working with students across majors and my cohort to enrich my knowledge and contribute to the Forty Acres.

As I begin my four years at UT as a Forty Acres Scholar, I am excited to see the intersection between math, business, and technology, and the disciplines I have yet to encounter. I am grateful to be surrounded by a cohort of remarkably diverse peers, giving me the opportunity to see problems I would never otherwise face and approach them through a quantitative lens.

The Forty Acres community will force me to become an interesting person, constantly exposing me to peers and leaders with ideas, experiences, and perspectives far outside my own. I look forward to discovering these new interests and seeing how those perspectives reshape my approach to problems.

Major
Mathematics and Plan II

Honors Program
Plan II

Other Academic Interests
Real Estate

What drew you to the Forty Acres Scholars Program?
Coming home from Finalist Weekend, I was amazed by the talent and character of the other finalists I met. The opportunity to go through my four years at UT alongside an incredible cohort, while also participating in unique events and networking opportunities, was exactly what I wanted for college.